


Shadows of the Past

by pseudoneems, ximeria



Series: Shadows of the Past [1]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Identities, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Big Bang Challenge, Genosha, M/M, Romance, Secrets, Suppression of abilities, X-Men Big Bang Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-04 23:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 55,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1796881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pseudoneems/pseuds/pseudoneems, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximeria/pseuds/ximeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles and Erik meet at a hotel in Genosha. Erik hiding that he is Magneto, one of the founders of the mutant nation. Charles running from his past, not to mention his gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collab with pseudomeem, who has turned my simple sentences into windows of the story. Go on and have a look at her lovely artwork [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1801234)
> 
> Thank you to ang3lsh1 and afrocurl for their hard work rooting out my worst habits (the ones left are entirely my fault). And to Pseudoneems for doing her lovely, lovely artwork and picking out a few things in the fic that needed work as well :)

**Prologue 1**

On a cool March morning in 2003, with the sun trying to fight off the last chill of winter, New York was as New York was on most Wednesday mornings on the cusp of spring. Busy and noisy, with people rushing from one place to another - to work, from work, for legal reason, for illegal ones. It made no difference to the overall buzz of one of the busiest cities on Earth.

At 10.53, the sounds of the inner city changed. It started with a low, ominous rumble, progressing to the muffled sound of something exploding. To a large part of the city it was worrying, for most distressing, but for the people around Broadway and 79th Street, it was pure chaos.

It wasn't that they hadn't had their fair share of super-powered individuals disturbing the peace before - or to put it plainly: attempting to level the city to the ground. However, when a power-mad mutant decided to make this his stage for stating his intentions for world domination, or as it was in this case, more along the lines of wiping out every living thing through nuclear war - most people tend to panic and run in the opposite direction.

In a city packed with people the way New York was, this created chaos. People torn between running for their lives and trying to find people that had been lost to them in the resulting mayhem.

Sebastian Shaw was reveling in it. He had his captive audience - as captivated as deer caught in the headlights could possibly be. His plan was foolproof. He had his transmitter that would set off two nuclear missiles when he'd have his moment of glory.

"Look at the humans running like vermin!" he said loudly, addressing what made up his inner circle of Hellfire. "They are no more fit for ruling and shall therefore be exterminated like the sewer rats they are."

Having spent the morning charging his powers, Shaw let loose a barrage aimed at the base of one of the corner buildings, the concrete and steel buckling and exploding; debris raining down, causing even more chaos.

It was the loveliest symphony to his ears. Chorused by the screams of fear.

"You can run," he addressed the crowds, "but when the missiles hit, there's nowhere you can hide from their cleansing fire." There was a shuffle behind him, but Shaw didn't turn around. He knew his core of trusted soldiers, he could focus on the scene before him, their loyalties secure.

There was a ripple through the people, as if something had changed and suddenly everyone, well, they didn't slow down, but all of the sudden they seemed to be trying to leave the area in an orderly fashion. He really couldn't allow this… whatever it was.

"When the nuclear warheads scour the Earth," he went on, "you will all die." He held up the transmitter, "and we, the children of the atom, shall inherit the world!" It still didn't seem like the previous panic was there anymore and Shaw frowned. He had relied on large scale panic, mobs running wild.

The silence behind him was nearly as loud as the sound of screams and buildings crumbling before him. Taking a deep breath he turned around and shot his minions a severe look. "Is there any reason why you are not out there causing mayhem?" he asked. Really, there should be far more panic even without them, but not pulling their load just wasn't acceptable.

"Nuclear war, Sebastian?" His White Queen raised an eyebrow at him, though she had an obvious air of uncertainty about her. "And how do you suppose we'll survive that? Standing in the middle of it? Somehow I don't think a nuclear blast has an 'eye of the storm'." The latter was added with a little too much sarcasm for his taste.

"The strongest of us will survive," Shaw argued. Damn it, he hadn't expected this to be an issue. He prefered to take care of the big picture - he had minions for the dirty work.

"Somehow I get the feeling you'll be the only one surviving," Magneto muttered, lips curling into a distasteful grimace under his cowl.

"Then so be it," Shaw cut through. "We are here to exterminate the flatscans." He put his thumb onto the transmitter. "At all costs."

As he pressed the button, it made a fizzling noise, then crackled and sent a shock of electricity down his arm that made the fine hairs stand on end.

"Magneto… what the hell?" Shaw growled, turning and giving the group behind him his full attention. The White Queen, in her impractical revealing white dress and high heels, shoulder to shoulder with Magneto, whom Shaw had been sure he'd brainwashed enough to get him to follow his every order and whim.

"None of us would survive, would we?" Azazel asked, stepping forward to form the line against Shaw, as Riptide did the same on the other side of Emma.

"The strongest of you would," Shaw argued. Really, this was not the time. And if Magneto had stopped him - had destroyed the transmitter… then he'd have to replan. He still had more than enough energy to level most of New York and that would certainly take out these cowards. He chuckled mirthlessly and reached inside himself for the necessary power.

A large steel crossbeam hit Shaw squarely in the chest, taking him by surprise and causing him to discharge the majority of his energy upward, where it caused little damage. However, enough of it escaped to the sides and the shockwave toppled buildings in its wake, leaving a trail of destruction. Shaw himself fell to the ground, the air knocked out of him. In his favor; the impact itself reverberated through him, adding to his energy.

The helmet felt a little dented, pressing uncomfortably against the side of his head. But what was a little discomfort as it would keep his fallen queen out of his head? Because obviously, she could not be trusted. None of them could be trusted. They deserved to die alongside the filthy…

The sudden displacement of air and the acrid smell of sulphur warned him of Azazel's attack. In retaliation, Shaw let his power ripple outward, fire and explosions happening all around him.

One explosion seemed to freeze in the air for a moment. Before curling in on itself, whirling into a tornado and then dying out as oxygen was removed.

Damn Riptide for pulling new tricks out of his sleeve just when Shaw needed the united front the most.

Though, did he? Did he need these whiny little chicken shits on his side? Of course not, he was the Black King, after all, the world would tremble and burn at his feet!

Another metal beam soared towards him.

"So predictable, Magneto," Shaw hissed, bracing himself and allowing the impact to ripple through him, adding to his stored energy already. "Always throwing toys around like a child having a tantrum. Will you side with these snivelling creatures as they cower in their holes? As they line up our fellow mutants, as they take the lives of our brothers and sisters?" Shaw roared, feeling his whole being expanding, as he pushed more of his energy outward.

If they wouldn't conform, then they would burn!

Again he could tell Azazel was on the move, though this time apparently he managed to be just that split second faster than Shaw could have predicted.

All went quiet.

Shaw, deep down, realized that it _couldn't_ have. The heart of New York was still largely burning and the debris was still mostly falling from damaged buildings. Acrid smoke still filled the air. However, Shaw couldn't move a muscle. Couldn't fight, couldn't _speak_ , could only guess that Azazel had managed to take his helmet, because he could now feel Emma's icy fingers closing around his mind.

"I can't shut down your mind, Sebastian," the White Queen said, standing above him, looking down at him with regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry. Erik - it's your turn."

Shaw wanted to rage against them, wanted to rage against the children he had taken in and brought up. Ungrateful to the bone, it turned out.

Magneto towered over him. The black outfit with the wine-red shoulder cover and cowl making him far more ominous than Shaw had ever thought the little boy he'd kidnapped could be.

"Not too fast, Erik. He'll be able to turn any kinetic energy into his own and I can't hold him indefinitely."

Shaw tried, he did. He wanted to squirm, wanted to expel his energy, kill the snakes he had nurtured at his chest who had so insensitively turned on him at what should have been the dawn of a new era. The dawn of _their_ new era.

Staring up, Shaw wanted to rage as something gleamed in the pale sunlight, glittering through the dust, slowly rotating towards him, until it came so close it blurred and an excruciating pain spread from his forehead. He tried to grasp at it, tried to fight it, but nothing would work. His voice was no longer there, would no longer obey him - one moment all was hot and painful and tasted like ashes in his mouth and the next… nothing.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"Fuck," Erik sank to his knees, nausea leaving a bitter taste at the back of his throat.

"Not now," Emma said, "get up, Magneto. We have to leave."

"Don't… don't call me that right now," Erik said, trying to breathe through his nose, centering himself. Of course only managing to inhale smoke and dust, making him cough till his chest hurt.

"Erik, get on your feet and let's go," she told him, pulling at his arm. "Janos? Where's Azazel?"

"I'm here," Azazel said, slipping in on the other side of Erik, grabbing his arm and helping him to his feet.

"Emma's right," Erik agreed. Thoughts were churning in his mind, but he had to put all doubts and regrets aside. They'd… he'd just killed Sebastian with Emma's help.

Erik was not going to start hyperventilating in the middle of falling debris in New York. A few buildings had toppled with the shockwave of Sebastian lashing out, but it was nothing compared to what would have happened, if they hadn't stopped him.

They'd probably all have been dead by now. And there'd be more than just a few toppled buildings in New York as well.

"Where to?" Azazel asked, nodding to Emma who grabbed Erik's arm, hard, while he held out his other hand to take Janos'.

"Anywhere's good," Erik muttered. "Somewhere they won't look for us for a while."

"That narrows it down," Azazel muttered, but looked over at Emma again, before whisking them off, the vertigo of teleportation making Erik's stomach churn even more.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"We really need a more permanent place to stay," Emma said, leaning against the opening of the cave.

"If you have any suggestions, by all means, share them," Erik said, wiping at his damp forehead, sweat staining his undershirt, his black and magenta top discarded in favor of getting some air to his skin.

Erik looked at her, then at Janos, who shrugged. They had been on the run for months now, were at the top of the list of most wanted terrorists in the US. To think they had saved New York and this was their payment?

"We did level the place," Emma replied quietly, the strain audible in her voice.

Erik sighed deeply. He was still, occasionally, prone to going down the dark path of Shaw's anti-human agenda, although when he caught himself doing so, he would put a stop to it, not at any point wanting to be anything like the man who'd mentored him.

Especially not if it was true, what Emma had dug out in the last place they'd stayed. They had come across a whole stash of Shaw's files - and there were files on everyone, people they had never heard about, _mutants_ with notes and markings on how and if they could be swayed to Shaw's case. And in some cases if force should be applied for successful recruitment.

Erik would have liked to believe that it had all been something Shaw had taken away from the US government, but in more than a few of them, stamped by the military, no less, he was mentioned as consultant, not opponent.

The worst night, and that was one they had collectively drowned in booze, was the one where they had found their respective files. Azazel had gotten off easy. His file was about how Shaw had found him as a very young boy, not filed as a mutant, but something otherworldly. Something Azazel couldn't recall, but as he'd had no other idea where to go, he had followed Shaw.

Janos had been an orphan that Shaw had picked up in the streets of Rio - and it had been a few good years growing up - at least to the point where Shaw had lost his mind.

Now Emma and Erik. Their files had most definitely destroyed any good mood there might have been. Not to mention any benevolent thoughts towards Sebastian Shaw and his manifesto they could possibly still hold.

Emma had stared at hers, silently turning it for Erik to read.

_Subject: Emma Frost  
Year/month/date of birth: 1979/02/21  
Age at acquisition: 6  
Subject obtained: family blackmailed to get to subject, memory then telepathically altered._

Erik had felt like throwing up.

It hadn't helped when Azazel had unearthed Erik's file. Which Erik had almost reluctantly opened. Shaw had always told him that he'd taken him out of a foster home, where they wouldn't have understood his superiority anyway.

What he found in the file _did_ make him drop it and run for the bathroom, throwing up until his head hurt and his throat felt like someone had taken a shredder to it.

_Subject: Erik Lehnsherr  
Year/month/date of birth: 1984/11/08  
Age at acquisition: 9  
Subject could not be obtained through obfuscation, blackmail or threats. Subject's family taken out of the picture. Permanently. Made to look like accident - subject's memories telepathically altered - process aided by drugs._

Safe to say, they hadn't stayed in that hideout for very long. The memory faded and Erik looked up to meet Emma's eyes. "Yes, we do need somewhere where we can start from scratch, figure out what we're actually after."

"It would have to be somewhere where the international powers would have to be careful to not take a wrong step," Emma said, sharing a look with Janos. "Somewhere the US would be reluctant to try to take us out."

Erik nodded.

There was a displacement of air and the scent of sulphur. "I may have a place," Azazel said, walking forward. He looked like death warmed over and Erik realized that he must have been pushing himself harder and harder lately, trying to do what was best for them all.

"I can't take you there in one go," he said with a shake of the head. "I've already spent a lot of energy."

Erik watched as Azazel sat down on a rock at the opening of the cave. "It's an island off the coast of Africa. Used to have a city there, but it's completely overgrown - abandoned."

"Anything we should be worried about?" Erik asked quietly. "Disease, wildlife…"

"Apparently, from what I've found out, digging through their ruined library," Azazel said, "economic downfall."

"Greed," Emma said with a snort.

"Probably," Azazel agreed. "There isn't much there, we'll have to get provisions before heading there, but if our last jump is off one of the coastal countries of Africa's east coast, we should be alright."

Erik looked at him, then Janos and Emma. "I'm not making our decisions for us," he said. _'I'm not Shaw'_ went unsaid. 

"It can't be worse than here, can it?" Emma said quietly. If they strayed back into the US, they were most definitely putting themselves at risk.

"Don't jinx it," Azazel said with a quirk of his lips.

"I'm in," she said. Janos nodded. They all looked at Erik.

"I guess we have to start somewhere," he agreed. "Azazel, you know best how far you can go at the moment. Rest, then we'll make travel plans."

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

**Prologue 2 - May 13th, 2015**

Charles sat for a long time, staring at the note on his desk. It was nothing more than a piece of white printing paper, folded in half. It was written on a computer, printed and had no clues that a handwritten note might have had.

The feeling of dread spread in his chest, his palms sweating as he fought to take in what it said. The words were simple enough, but the implications and impact of them…

"They're on to you, getting closer by the hour."

Even speaking the sentence out loud brought him no further clues. Of course. Still, he could give a good guess as to _who_ was getting closer. He just didn't want to. He was much more curious as to who had sent the note as well.

Shaking his head he switched on the small office shredder next to his desk and ran it through, destroying the ominous words, though the feeling of dread remained. He stared at the shredded paper. Possibly he should have kept it as evidence, but it made his skin crawl, made him worry what questions it would lead to if he didn't get rid of it.

What had Raven said the other day? She'd suggested he take some time off, and he'd blown her off, hadn't he? Told her he was still rather busy with the mid-terms coming up. Which, strictly speaking wasn't true, but he'd gotten so used to just weaving one white lie or another when Raven voiced her worries about his workaholic tendencies. He was fairly sure that by now she knew perfectly well that he was doing it, but let him get away with it without too much fuss, just as he didn't tell her to stop worrying about his health and wellbeing and for her to be careful in Washington. Keeping contact wasn't always easy when he was halfway around the world. Hiding.

It had been… so many years since he'd covered up their disappearance, since what had happened in New York… since Charles Xavier and a little blue girl had disappeared and Charles Pembroke and Raven Darkholme had appeared without too much pomp and circumstance.

Years of self administered therapy shook but held true. He rarely thought about that day when they'd met, in the middle of the chaos of Hellfire's attack on New York.

Even if the repercussions of it were with him daily. He reached out and absentmindedly caressed the hilt of the cane leaning against the desk.

He'd have to sign a request for a sabbatical to the headmaster. He had a list of people who could take over his students for the exam, could handle his courses next term if he didn't come back for that. It wasn't that he didn't have any contingency plans ready for a case like this. They'd covered up, him and Raven, rather well, with the help of a few friends, but no paper trail was ever fully concealed, was it? Not in this day and age. He wasn't stupid enough to think that.

The sabbatical might take a little work, but he had a template worked out for it in case he'd need it. Which he did now. Packing, and ordering tickets. As long as no one came looking for him before he was on the plane, he'd be able to make it.

Over the years he'd occasionally revised the plans - run maintenance on them, so to speak. Mostly he'd changed the destinations depending on the current world situation towards mutants. For the longest time he'd thought maybe, just maybe, he'd be safe enough in the UK. At least they didn't abduct their citizens the way the US had up until a few years earlier. And probably still did, even if the official policy was more lenient now.

A couple of years ago, though, he'd changed the destination to the only place that really made sense. They might not trace Raven quite so easily but he had to make sure she knew what was going on. She was very well aware of the plans and if he was implementing them, she'd need to know.

Going online, he made sure all his papers were in order for the visit he had in mind. First, he'd set it up as a holiday and then, if need be, a prolonged stay, maybe even a request for citizenship - refuge if necessary.

Hell, Raven had been needling him for a long time. She'd wanted to go to Genosha since it had opened its borders to visitors. Looked like this was a perfect chance to go someplace warmer and drier than Cardiff. Not that that was such a hard place to find.

Stretching his arms over his head to crack the shoulders, Charles took a deep breath and started working towards a change of scenery. Genosha was not the easiest place to get into without the right paperwork, even if one was a mutant.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Oddly enough, Raven only made it easier for him in the end to go. He'd been fretting on what to tell her, but when she called the very next day, Charles decided right when he saw her call ID that she'd need to know.

He'd never expected her to be ahead of him, though.

_"Charles, Stryker's on the roll."_

Charles blanched and looked down at the phone. Now there was a name he hadn't heard in a while. Stryker had been the most vocal witchhunter after the New York battle and he'd been lobbying for a mutant registration act for ages until he'd disappeared a few years earlier. Raven had hated his guts with a passion as she'd had to occasionally deal with him in Washington where she'd done her own fair share of lobbying for their side. However, it had never been a secret that he'd been hunting everyone involved in the New York incident and he'd somehow gotten wind of a telepathic intervention, wanting nothing more than to track down the 'manipulator' as Charles recalled him yelling about in one memorable tv interview.

"What does he know?" Charles asked, not even questioning her words. Raven had so many connections that it wasn't impossible for her to know just about everything worth knowing.

 _"He's apparently been tracking people who disappeared during the attack on New York,"_ she explained softly.

Charles took a deep breath. "People disappear," he replied. Especially with the chaos New York had seen that day.

_"Charles, he's been asking about one young man by the name of Charles Xavier."_

Oh fuck, Charles swore to himself.

 _"There's a rumor he's gotten hold of some of Brian Xavier's files. You need to lay more than just low, brother of mine."_ she said, worry evident in her voice.

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. "I've just sent off what I need to get into Genosha," he said. For all that he'd loved his father, he really wished he'd been able to destroy all of the man's research notes. Especially the ones mentioning that his son was a telepath.

 _"Good boy,"_ Raven said with a sigh at the other end. _"Tourist visa?"_

Charles huffed out a breath. "Yes," he said.

_"Good, that means less questions and less processing time. You'll need the head start. It's just a matter of time before Stryker draws the right conclusions and follows the right trail."_

"The tourist visa will get me in quickly, what comes after, I'll have to tackle as I go," Charles said. He'd considered the pursued mutant visa, but he knew that it would take time he wasn't sure he had.

 _"I'm going to contact a friend of mine in Genosha. Well, friend, and a compatriot, and hopefully she can help you if we need it,"_ Raven told him. _"When you decide to ask for asylum, Charles, you'll probably need all the help you can get. And you might have to drop your alter ego."_

Charles stayed quiet for a moment. If Raven felt it necessary…

 _"Charles? Don't think, just_ do _it."_

He realized that there was a deep seated fear and worry in her voice, and it was so unlike her that he snapped to attention immediately.

"Send me whatever you deem necessary for me to have, but make sure it's encrypted, and I promise you I'll do what you're asking for," he agreed before he could stop himself.

This time Raven went quiet. _"It's so unlike you to not fight me on these things,"_ she said quietly. _"I'm almost more afraid knowing you're already running."_

"It'll be okay, Raven," he said, knowing damned well he could make no such promises. "Will you be joining me?" He wanted nothing more than to demand it of her, but he'd also learned over the years that it mostly had the opposite effect on her.

 _"I'll come as soon as I can,"_ she replied, her voice growing stronger and more determined. _"Stryker is not going to win this."_

Charles closed his eyes and nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "I'll send you all the information about arrival and hotel arrangements," he promised her. "As soon as I can."

 _"And I'll be waiting to hear from you, Charles. And don't forget to let me know when you get there, safe and sound."_ Raven's voice shook a little.

"I know you worry, and I understand," Charles said. "I won't forget, don't worry."

 _"You better not, you idiot, you're the only family I've got."_ Raven sounded disturbingly worried.

"Likewise," Charles said softly. "Now, go lobby, do what you must, but don't wait too long before you join me in Genosha, okay?"

 _"I won't,"_ she promised. _"Be careful, Charles, you know Stryker's dangerous."_

Charles took a deep breath. "I know. I'll talk to you later, Raven."

With that she hung up and Charles closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. This was most assuredly not what he'd planned for, but it just showed how important it had been to plan for the future and for a worst case scenario.

So if he had to play the tourist, he would. He'd long since planned to go to Genosha at some point, to see it for what it was, a modern day wonder. He just hadn't planned that it might be as a refugee instead of a tourist.


	2. Chapter 2

Charles walked up the few steps leading to the main entrance of The Grand Hotel of Haven. The facade wasn't decked out quite as garishly as he'd feared when he'd made the online booking. He'd read a few good reviews of it and it was actually nicely old fashioned. Like some of the really old hotels in Europe - even if it couldn't be a decade old.

It looked inviting, and not to mention, it had air conditioning. Charles was about ready to drop his bags on the floor of his room and fall face first into the bed with the AC set on frozen wasteland.

While New York could get muggy at times, he'd become used to Oxford and Edinburgh for a while and then Cardiff, neither places particularly known for their lovely weather. And Genosha with its high temperatures and higher humidity, was slowly bringing him to his knees.

He wished Raven could have left DC as soon as he'd left Cardiff, but alas, she'd had things she had to finish. Not necessarily anything she'd share with him, but her work was important enough that he didn't nag her about it. Too much.

He shifted the strap of his bag further up on his shoulder, leaning his cane against his hip while doing so. It wasn't strictly speaking a necessity these days, but his lower back did occasionally twinge something horrible and although he'd initially loathed the cane, he'd learned to live with it - especially since it was either this or the wheelchair he'd been in after the accident.

Of course the blasted thing tended to trip him up - and if not Charles, then someone else. Which was the case here as well. One moment Charles was trying to get his stuff together to go up to the desk and check in and the next he was nearly bowled over, staggering as he tried to stay on his feet.

One moment he was heading for what seemed to be an inevitable faceplant, and the next he was caught, swung around and... well, Charles had never dreamed he'd reenacting the poster from _Gone with the Wind_. He didn't have the hair _or_ curves of Scarlet O'Hara.

"Argh!" Charles clung to the nearest solid object, in this case it was a nicely muscled arm and just hung on, his heart thundering. Charles felt his face heat as he kept clinging, and he knew the longer he put it off the more embarrassing it would be. Taking a deep breath, he finally leaned his head back a little, looking up at whoever had nearly run him over. Or he'd tripped with his cane. Charles really wasn't sure at this point. Either way, this guy smelled _nice_. Like freshly laundered, crisp sheets. Which was pretty impressive consider how Charles had sweated like crazy the moment he'd stepped off the plane.

Charles opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. He looked up into a severe face, frown lines deep and eyes that seemed to look right through him.

Now, Charles didn't believe in kismet, or soul mates... but hot damn, he wanted to, right this moment. The ever present temptation to 'look' with his gift niggled him for a moment, but as always, he suppressed it. And it would have been a perfect little fantasy moment if his lower back hadn't chosen this very moment to spasm, nearly causing his legs to buckle.

"Hey, careful, you're not hurt are you?" the man asked, voice deep and with a hint of concern.

Charles took a deep steadying breath, riding out the pain. "No," he managed to get out. "No, old injury, is all."

"That would explain this menace," the stranger said with a wry twist to his mouth, letting go with one hand to wiggle his fingers, the cane lifting from the floor to land in his hand.

Charles knew it was rude to stare. Odds were he'd see plenty of mutants using their powers and the island did have a 90% mutant population. But still, Charles' mind buzzed with questions and he'd love to-. Charles was put back on his feet, handed the cane to lean on, and he took in the full picture of his assailant - or maybe rescuer. Taller than Charles himself, lean, dressed in thin canvas trousers and a loose fitting shirt, the top three buttons undone… Charles tore his eyes away and took in the white hair at the temples, wondering at the man's age. He didn't look that much older than Charles himself.

"I am terribly sorry," Charles finally managed to say. "I'm not used to being out and about with both luggage and cane." He bit the inside of his cheek when the man turned around and held out Charles' bag. "I hope the tripping didn't hurt you."

"I'm fine, but…" the man hesitated for a split second before cocking his head to the side. "You could make it up to me by letting me buy you dinner tonight."

Charles blinked rapidly a couple of times. "I think… I'm supposed to buy you dinner as an apology," he replied, surprised to see the open interest in the man's eyes. "Not the other way around." Of course, he hadn't foreseen this. He'd come to Genosha to keep a low profile. Not to start something… unplanned for.

"I have a friend who claims I'm terrible at meeting new people, so humor me in this," was the reply. "I'm Erik."

Charles stared down at the hand that was held out to him, then quickly shifted the cane into his left hand to shake it. "Charles," he managed to get out.

"How are you liking Genosha so far, Charles?" Erik asked, looming over Charles.

"Its…. hot." Charles felt even more flushed as he realized they were still holding hands and what he'd just said. Not that it wasn't… hot.

Erik laughed, the stern face cracking and showing a spark to the eyes and fine crow's feet at the corners of his eyes.

Charles reluctantly let go of his hand and gripped his cane. Mostly to make sure his hand didn't wander anywhere near Erik when he wasn't looking. "It's… I guess highly irregular, but alright." Charles hesitated. "I don't even know a good place to eat. As I just landed."

Erik glanced at his luggage and smirked. "I guessed as much. The hotel has a very good restaurant attached. If you're bringing that," he gestured at Charles' cane, "it might be safer for the public to not venture too far from the hotel."

"Oi," Charles said, a startled laugh escaping him. He wasn't used to being flirted with this way, so openly and with obvious intent. And he was enjoying it too. "I'll have you know this cane has been an important support through the last few years." He allowed himself a small grin, "Even if it does have the propensity for tripping other people. Maybe it's just the only way I can meet any interesting people."

Erik loomed over him a little, personal space be damned. "I find that hard to believe," he said.

Strangling an embarrassing noise of arousal, Charles coughed lightly and carefully stepped back. He hefted his bag and gestured at the check-in desk. "I'll… erm, see you tonight?"

"8 o'clock," Erik said sternly. "And don't trip anyone else with that menace, I don't share."

Charles swallowed hard. "8 o'clock," he managed to get out before fleeing to the relative safety of the check-in desk.

Once in his room he dropped his bags, turned up the AC, fell down on top of the comfortable bed and started laughing.

Raven would never let him live this down if she learned of it. As much as he wanted to keep it from her, he knew that she would eventually drag it out of him, because she was like that and he'd rarely been able to keep secrets from her. Especially not the embarrassing ones.

Of course now he'd have to find something nice to wear for the evening. Nothing too formal, nothing too casual either. And something that would allow him to breathe, because damn, Genosha was hotter and more humid than he'd imagined.

Forgotten was the exhaustion of the flight and the change in climate. The urge to faceplant in the bed was still there, but in his mind it would be so much better if he wasn't alone when that happened.

Charles coughed and pushed that image away. While Erik had flirted with him, he shouldn't be getting himself into a whirlwind one nighter just like that. He was mainly in Genosha to hide and to possibly find a way to make it a permanent stay, if need be.

Undoing his shirt and letting it part to let air to his skin, Charles brushed the tip of a finger against one of the numerous scars near his hip. And he'd have to decide how much to tell if they did up in an intimate situation - sans clothes.

"All in due time," he muttered. "You don't even know if it'll get that far once he learns you're a telepath - nor do you need the complications." It was how it usually went and while it hurt to see that flicker of distrust in people's eyes, he couldn't in good conscience not tell the truth. He'd withheld the truth once and it had backfired on him something fierce. So he wasn't doing that again. He'd downplay how strong he was, but not _what_ he could do.

Of course he was getting ahead of himself again. Who was to say that Erik would even be at the restaurant tonight?

Charles cursed. He hadn't gotten Erik's last name so he wouldn't know who to ask _for_ when he got there.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Erik shut the door behind him with a hint of a push at the handle with his powers. He wondered if Emma would be proud of him or scoff at him for being too forward. He'd meant to rip the man a new one when he'd fallen over the cane, but as he'd reacted purely by instinct and caught him, the anger had dwindled considerably.

Charles. And Emma always said he was bad at making new ...friends. That taking chances was something he'd done in his youth. If anyone (especially Emma) were to ask him what had possessed him to make him ask Charles out, he wouldn't be able to explain it. Holding him had felt nice, and the mortification on Charles' face as he'd looked up at Erik had put a dampener on his temper.

Maybe his temper simply did better when he wasn't in the office, yelling at people who seemed incapable of following orders? And Charles wasn't a minion, which of course made him closer to Erik's equal - not someone he could boss around and expect to follow orders. Considering that Erik rarely dealt with people he met outside his work, no wonder he was attracted to someone who could say no, if they so chose.

Maybe Emma was right and he simply needed to get laid? And maybe he'd just taken the first step in that direction? He'd had the odd fling here and there, though it had almost always been fueled by a simple need to get off. And how did one carry on a relationship when one's alter ego was an icon of power? He'd never gotten around to introducing his would-be companions to the idea. Emma tended to blur the knowledge of his face from their minds after any intimate encounter. It was another reason why he rarely did it.

His face wasn't exactly one that made people take notice. Not when, early on, they had decided that he would keep Magneto as a persona, and Erik Lehnsherr, occasionally Eisenhardt, as just a man on the floor who very few knew who was.

There were days where Erik Lehnsherr hated Magneto with an unrivaled passion.

It had been Emma's idea that he'd vacation as himself rather than Magneto. So he could have as many one night stands as he wanted to without her morning after interference -- her words. He just couldn't tie any lasting ties, at least nothing serious that would evolve into an actual relationship. Not that he was considering marriage or anything, but the guy he'd nearly run over or rather, tripped over, in the lobby, had been damn cute.

Of course Erik had to wonder if he was maybe trying too hard and maybe going for the first, the best lay. He'd only been in the hotel for a day and a half, and the first day had been spent sleeping face first into the bed. He'd barely had any time off for the past few years, always one thing or another needing his attention or one worry or another nagging him all through the nights and giving him trouble sleeping.

Ah, who was he kidding? He'd seen plenty of attractive people since he'd made it out of bed but he had to admit he'd found Charles quite appealing. Short stature, lovely lips and eyes. Soft look to his face and an obvious reaction to Erik's bad flirting. It wasn't as if he got a lot of practice during his time as Magneto. Not that people didn't try to flirt with him, but Erik rarely felt it was worth it as they obviously wanted Magneto and not the actual man under the hood.

They'd probably be disappointed if they got to know him. As much as he'd burn for the cause, he liked his time off (what little he could find) to be spent relaxing, reading, or as the case most often was; sleeping.

Sitting down on the bed, Erik rubbed the back of his head and grinned self consciously. Date. He had a date. He picked up the phone and called reception, booking a table for the night. Which went fine until the point where he was asked about the name of his guest. And it hit him. "Charles," he said, hoping it was enough.

Unfortunately the concierge at the other end clucked at him and said they'd need a surname to go with that. Erik drew a deep breath. "I don't know his surname. He's just checked in. Check your guest book."

At which point the concierge sniffed and told him they couldn't simply do that. Terms of Privacy and all that.

Erik growled and lamented the fact that Magneto could have gotten a table for two quite easily without this damned hassle.

"Then book the table in my name and make sure there's a setting for two people," Erik said, keeping his voice even. He'd plenty of years in politics to have something to draw on. "Please," he added, feeling the imaginary phantom kick from Emma.

He'd take the conversation with the hostess when he got there. If he had to, he'd describe Charles in as many details as he possibly could.

Of course Charles didn't have his last name either, so he wouldn't know who to ask for. Yes, he'd have to ally himself with the hostess, and make sure he was on time.

This taken care of, he dug into the clothes he'd brought with him to the hotel. He wanted to make a good impression.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

In the end he hadn't had to worry about the hostess or finding Charles. Erik had every intention of making it to the restaurant well before 8, but Emma had called and she'd been more than a little amused when he'd suddenly cursed her over the phone, realizing that he only had a few minutes to make it down to the restaurant.

She'd teased him relentlessly until he'd huffed and hung up on her. He knew perfectly well that she was sitting in her penthouse apartment, laughing her ass off at his expense.

Erik tried not to influence the elevator as it headed towards the ground floor. It felt as if it was going at half the speed it actually was and he was caught between being annoyed with himself over this ...attraction, and kind of reveling in it. He couldn't remember when he'd last felt this way about a date. Hell, he could barely remember when he'd last _had_ a date. 

As he walked across the lobby in long strides, he saw the entrance to the restaurant, and sped up as he saw Charles standing, leaning on his cane, obviously charming the hostess. Flirting with her… Erik bit the inside of his cheek. He could almost hear Emma tell him to keep a lid of his possessive asshole tendencies.

Didn't make it any easier, though.

"Hello, Charles," he greeted, very much not out of breath as he came up next to Charles, curbing the instinct to put his hand on the flat of Charles' lower back. He had a moment's wonder if maybe Charles exuded pheromones, if maybe that was his power.

Then the thought hit him. Maybe Charles wasn't a mutant? What if he was a human? Erik met Charles' gaze and suddenly the horror of him being a human went all fuzzy and ...not quite so important.

Shit. Was he losing his edge or was he just that sex starved?

Taking a deep breath, Erik calmed himself. No need to worry just yet.

"Everything alright?" Charles asked, visibly worried. "And hello, Erik. I didn't know your last name so I had a little trouble figuring out if you were here yet or even… booked a table for us." The last was added with a mixture of humor and… Erik wondered if there was a touch of nervousness there as well.

"A friend of mine called and I lost track of time," Erik apologized, turning to the hostess who was waiting for them. "Table for two, please. Booked under the name of Erik Eisenhardt," he told her.

"Eisenhardt," Charles said quietly as they followed the hostess into the restaurant. "Interesting name."

"Old family name," Erik said, sending a silent apology to the distant branch of the family he'd borrowed it from. Lehnsherr, while it might not be widely known, was a name that could be traced back to Magneto with some work.

Eisenhardt was buried so deeply in Erik's past that it couldn't be traced anywhere near him.

"And I guess we went about this all wrong," Charles said with a grin as he was seated on one side of the table and Erik on the other. He reached across the table, offering his hand in greeting. "Charles Pembroke, at your service."

Erik took his hand and shook it. Firm and warm. He already had to wonder how it would feel like to have it wander across his body. Later, hopefully. "Erik Eisenhardt," he said unnecessarily. He lowered his hand but didn't let go of Charles'.

Charles didn't pull his hand back either. Not until their waiter came over to take their drinks order.

If Erik had imagined how the evening might go, he couldn't possibly have foreseen just how… enjoyable it was. He'd set out to have dinner be simply foreplay and sussing out if Charles might be interested in more than just flirting. What he got was a night of discussions ranging from opera to European football and from there politics and mutant rights worldwide.

It eventually gave Erik the in he wanted. "So you don't have any obvious mutations," he said, trying to put his question in a way that wouldn't insult one way or another.

Charles laughed, delightfully flushed from the wine they were drinking. "Well, I'm not hiding a tail in my trousers," he said, then stopping, the light flush becoming a burning blush. "I mean… I…." he groaned and hid his face behind one hand, shoulders shaking with laughter.

Erik grinned widely, his cheeks hurting. He hadn't had this lively a conversation in ages with anyone, and he most certainly hadn't laughed and smiled this much in years. "Well, apart from what I would consider ordinary anatomy, I'll refrain from turning that into a dirty joke - I think you've done that sufficiently already."

"Thank you, my friend," Charles said, fighting his own laughter. He took a deep breath and met Erik's eyes, his mirth fading. "I'm a telepath," he said, suddenly looking serious.

Erik raised an eyebrow. "You look like someone just died," he said, wondering why someone would share this information and then look like that.

A startled laugh escaped Charles. "I guess I've just gotten used to being met with suspicion the moment I admit to this," he said.

"Humans fear what they don't understand," Erik replied. There was always the risk of being read, but Genosha had laws… and those were for the tourists as well.

"Not just humans, Erik," Charles corrected him. "I get the suspicion from humans and mutants alike."

"It doesn't matter what your power is," Erik argued, "you are you and that's it. You didn't choose your power." He'd long since learned his lesson. He'd spent too many years around Emma to allow prejudice to interfere with his life.

"Oh," Charles said, his eyes impossibly wide, as he blinked, trying to focus on Erik. "That… if this is how I'd be received on Genosha, I should've come here earlier."

"Well, not everyone shares that sentiment," Erik admitted gruffly. "I've got a friend who's a telepath and she's long since knocked such shitty attitude out of me." 

Charles smiled softly. "Then thank you for being my reception to Genosha - even with the tripping I'm not sure I could have wished it differently."

"I'm pretty partial to it as well," Erik admitted with a small laugh before he took a sip of his wine. He wasn't entirely sure why he felt so at ease, and he had to, for a second consider if maybe Charles' telepathic powers weren't playing into it.

Looking at Charles, Erik wondered if he should really ask. There was very few ways he could put it without it sounding rude or distrustful. "How powerful are you?" Erik finally asked, setting his glass back down.

Charles' wide smile dimmed somewhat. "I… don't really know. I mean, I was measured as a child, but I haven't been since."

Erik raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought, judging your age, you'd have gone through the initial registration act and _would_ have been measured."

Charles coughed lightly and broke eye contact with Erik. "I may or may not have tweaked the result of that and played down my powers. I was a little paranoid in my teens."

Faked, tweaked. Erik stared. Christ, he'd have to be damned powerful and have incredible self control.

Charles drew a deep breath, and finally looked back up to meet Erik's eyes. "I… had an incident as a teenager that very nearly broke me, overwhelmed me. I got a bit paranoid after that and started training my shields in the extreme. Today… I can shield myself from the rest of the world completely. And I do, daily. I don't even pick up other people's thoughts when I'm sleeping."

Erik had to wonder at this. He knew from Emma that the only way she could break off from the world like that, was in her diamond form. And she couldn't keep that up when she was asleep. So immense self control. He had to admit to himself that only added to the package.

"So incredible self control," Erik said. "Anything else I should know?"

Charles shrugged. "I'm currently on a sabbatical from my professorial. I have a sister, who is also the one who nagged me into finally taking some time off."

Erik chuckled. "Much like my friend, probably," he shared. "She seems to think I've been working too hard for the past many years."

"And is she right?"

"Do I need a vacation or have I been working too hard?" Erik asked, pursing his lips. "Yes to both, probably. Genosha didn't create itself - and I apparently have a tendency to become a workaholic."

Charles coughed lightly. "Yes, I do believe that last part is something we have in common, at least if you ask my sister."

"Well, it's fortunate that two such hard working men as us have been found vacationing in the same place at the same time, then," Erik agreed, lifting his glass in a toast. "Working for what you believe in is never a bad thing, but I guess it doesn't negate the need for a little TLC."

"Hear, hear," Charles agreed, tilting his wine glass to lightly touch Erik's. "So, what else do you get up to when you're not working 24/7 - you wouldn't by any chance play chess, would you?"

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	3. Chapter 3

Charles felt comfortable when he found himself just on the cusp of waking up. Something _was_ begging for his attention, though. His mind just refused to serve the right reason for him to fully wake up. The incessant ringing of a phone nearby might be just that, but he was terribly contented where he was; cocooned in warmth and comfort. Although the ringing phone _was_ beginning to intrude just enough for him to react. Finally forcing his eyes open, he patted his hand along the mattress, aiming for the bedside table and failing to hit it when suddenly the volume of the phone changed slightly and there it was! Right in front of him. 

He wasn't even awake enough to think 'hey, my phone's floating in thin air', but rather at the stage where it was more along the lines of 'hey, that's nice, just when I needed it.'

At the same time as he picked up and grunted a greeting into it, he became aware of two things. One, the huffed laughter at the other end could only come from Raven and two; the puff of air hitting the back of his neck could only come from…

Charles swallowed hard as sleep now decided to leave him completely, with the cold clarity of day.

 _"Charles, my lovely brother, are you there, are you awake and are you capable of coherent speech?"_ Raven teased on the phone.

"I.. erm, yeah, I'm here, Raven, go ahead. And good morning." Charles was glad she couldn't see the heat rising to his face.

Erik muttered something against his neck and Charles shivered. The breath against the fine hairs at the back of his neck… Also, he'd love to have a little time to actually figure out how they'd gotten from chess and scotch to waking up in bed together. Charles took it all in for a moment. No, he was still wearing his clothes. Most of them, anyway. His shirt had been unbuttoned and was hanging halfway off one shoulder, though.

 _"What was that?"_ Raven asked. _"Well, anyway, I just wanted to check that you'd arrived okay,"_ she continued before he could think of anything to say.

"Eh, yeah, I got here on time. But you could have warned me that Genosha was hot and humid." Not to mention that such fine male specimens wandered about… He hoped she wouldn't start in on more questions about the warning he'd received that had prompted his trip, not before, at least, he was alone.

The hot and humid comment apparently made Erik chuckle and again the burst of air against the back of his neck made Charles squirm.

_"Charles, is there something wrong with the line?"_

"No, no, sorry." Charles elbowed Erik weakly, though not with much effect. "So, I'm good, how are you and when are you joining me?"

 _"That's the other reason I'm calling,"_ Raven replied. _"The meetings in New York are taking longer than I expected, so I won't be able to get away for another few days. I can't get another flight until Sunday night or Monday morning."_

"That's nearly a week, Raven," Charles said, feeling worry nagging at him. He'd been looking forward to seeing his wayward sister and the longer she stayed in the US, the more time Stryker had to connect the dots and come after her as well.

_"I know, I know, and I'm sorry, but I'll let you know as soon as I can, when I'll be arriving."_

Charles opened his mouth to reply, an undignified noise leaving his lips as Erik stretched against him, dropping an arm around his waist afterwards.

 _"Charles, seriously, what's going on?"_ Raven asked curiously. Then she went silent and Charles knew to fear that more than her ongoing pestering. _"Charles, you're not alone are you? I woke you up and you're not alone and ohmygodcharles did you get laid? I know I've told you time and time again that it would do you good, but that was fast!"_

"Raven, no…."

 _"So, one-night stand or girlfriend material?"_ Raven continued gleefully.

Charles tried to reply but his line of thought was rudely derailed when Erik muttered something sleepily against the back of his ear, horribly close to the phone.

 _"Oooh, or boyfriend material?"_ she added, her voice far too cheerful.

"Right, Raven, I'm going to have to call you back - and no, don't go jumping to conclusions, okay?" He could already see where this was going and he dreaded the next conversation they would be having. 

_"At least tell me he's good looking, Charles,"_ she needled.

"I'll call you later," Charles repeated and hung up, not getting nearly enough joy out of jabbing the hang-up button repeatedly.

"So, am I?" Erik asked.

Charles froze, phone halfway to the bedside table. _Boyfriend material?_ he wondered.

"Good looking, that is," Erik added cheekily.

Charles let out a slow breath. "Don't fish for compliments, it doesn't become you."

Erik laughed softly and pulled back enough to allow Charles to roll onto his back, but no more than it still allowed him to lean against Charles' side.

Charles opened his mouth to ask how they'd gotten to this, because the last thing he vaguely remembered was playing several games of chess and drinking scotch. It was possible the latter was the culprit in this scenario of course. Then he shut it again, because while he had been more than ready to apologize and just carry on from there, possibly exploring the rapport he'd already built with Erik the previous night, he couldn't quite tear his eyes off the sunlight hitting Erik's face.

Erik raised an eyebrow, obviously waiting for him to say something. Anything.

"You're ginger," was what Charles said before he could stop himself.

Erik snorted in reply, obviously surprising himself with that as well. Then he bit his lower lip, his even gaze cracking and he hid his face against Charles' shoulder, shaking with laughter.

I'm such a dork, Charles thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut. He fully expected to be embarrassed by his own comment, but Erik's easy mirth was contagious, and before he knew it, they were clinging to each other, and Charles was laughing until his sides hurt. 

"I'm such a dork," he said, out loud this time. He wasn't about to say that he'd had a perfect trashy romance novel moment, looking up at Erik. Because that would sound too needy, too clingy.

And Charles wasn't like that, and it wasn't what he was there for. Laying low and maybe get a bit of stress relief here or there, preferably with someone else. He wasn't in the market for a long term relationship that wouldn't work out in the long run anyway.

"I'm not arguing with that," Erik agreed, all too easily when he lifted his head again, looking down at Charles. "But it's okay, I think… I like that. I like that that was the first thing that came to mind when you looked at me. Not: 'What are we doing in the same bed.'"

Charles coughed, feeling his face heat again. "That thought did cross my mind, but I was busy talking to my rude sister on the phone."

"Why is she rude?" Erik asked.

"She sticks her nose in my life far too often," Charles admitted, not knowing how or if he should share just why that wasn't a problem on so many levels. He hadn't had much of a life since they'd met. She, on the other hand, under her own name, was a known mutant cause spokesperson. Raven Darkholme was well-respected and well-known for her work. Though she was the same Raven who spent far too much time worrying about her adopted brother. It was all she could do. If people started drawing too many parallels between Raven Darkholme and Charles Pembroke, it might get the both of them in trouble. However, if they were linked to the Xavier name, it would be so much worse.

He had to wonder if that might have been what had prompted the warning that had sent him running for Genosha.

Maybe that was also why Raven had suddenly been delayed. Charles had his research, had the more controversial articles that he'd had published under his real name and she had her rallies and speeches and lobbyism. Maybe they had been fools weaving their complicated web from the start and eventually it would all come apart and Charles would be on the run.

Maybe he should just stay on Genosha, then? He could hide here - an island nation of mutants, run by mutants, mainly for mutants.

Of course, if they learned what he'd done, they might not even want him. As much as he knew that mutants were pro their own kind, he also knew that his level of power tended to scare people. Humans and mutants alike.

"Penny for your thoughts, Charles," Erik said, a worried look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Charles said, shaking himself out of his fugue. "Got a little lost in there for a moment."

"You said yesterday your sister was joining you here," Erik prompted.

"Yes, it was her idea that I needed a break, and we rarely see each other." He shrugged. "She's been delayed, but she'll get here." The lie flowed easy enough by now. And probably more so because it was more of a half truth than a half lie.

Erik nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. His face went from open to shuttered in a split second, then evened out.

"Well, I think… I think I should get going, let you get started on your vacation."

Charles stared at him for a moment. That was a bit of a change. "If you feel that way," he said, his defences coming up right away. Had he projected? He didn't normally. His shielding was far too tight for that. For the first time in years he felt the temptation of lowering them and getting a feel for why Erik's mood had changed so suddenly.

"We can…" Erik cut off, then sat up and rubbed his face, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. "We can, if you want, I'll show you the city?"

Charles sat up as well, watching Erik closely. He wasn't used to this. This being another reason why he never tried to get a relationship going with anyone. People were hard to deal with in the long run. But… if Erik wasn't interested, then why offer?

"I mean," Erik turned around and looked at him, an almost nervous look on his face. "If you want to." He paused. "Tomorrow? I think… no, sorry, I know I've got some things I need to do today, but if you want to, tomorrow? We'll set out before it gets too hot?"

Charles rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't at all sure how to read Erik, but if the man wanted to meet again and was willing to play guide for him. He hid his confusion behind a smile and nodded. "I'd like that," he agreed. He really would. As much as it probably wasn't a good idea to get too deeply involved with anyone, he had to admit he'd very much like to spend more time with Erik.

"Tomorrow morning, then?" Charles repeated.

Erik nodded as he stood, putting his clothes back into a more orderly fashion. Not that anyone who saw him would think anything but there was a man who had slept in his clothes the night before.

"I'll meet you down front around 8.30?"

Charles nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "Sounds like a plan."

Stopping at the door, Erik turned around one last time and at least this time his smile seemed less guarded.

And then Charles was alone, with himself and his thoughts.

He'd taken Raven's suggestion in order to find somewhere to lay low, not to start some affair with a man he didn't know if he could trust. And he wasn't stupid. Keeping secrets would not work in the long run. Such shite had a habit of coming back and biting you in the arse. When you least expected it.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

What were you thinking? Erik bit his hand and tried to shake himself up. Thinking such things? Suggesting such an idiotic thing? And why the hell had Emma contacted him like that?

"What's that, Sugar? I wanted to make sure you were enjoying your vacation."

Erik concealed his startlement, and growled at her as he stalked into the hotel room he hadn't slept in the previous night. He should have known that she'd be here. He'd been enjoying himself when she'd poked him mentally. At least it didn't seem that Charles was strong enough to have sensed that.

Maybe it was a good thing that she had, though. He'd had some pretty damning thoughts in his head. And he'd still made the offer. Had still offered to show Charles around the capitol. He should probably just fuck the guy as soon as possible, because he wasn't sure what spending non-sex time with him would achieve.

Erik ignored the inner voice calling him a liar. At least Emma's connection with him didn't allow her to hear that.

He hoped.

"You look like you had a rough night," she said conversationally from where she was seated on the couch.

"I fell asleep halfway through a chess game," he muttered, as he made his way past her to get to the bathroom. As enjoyable as the scotch had been the night before, his mouth felt and tasted disgusting.

At least he hadn't tried to kiss Charles like this.

"I know I told you to have a good time and have as much sex as you wanted so you could burn off some of that damned tension you've been building up over the past oh, ten years," Emma commented, loud enough that he could hear her in the bathroom.

"I played chess with someone I met yesterday and we had too much to drink," he admitted before squeezing toothpaste out onto his toothbrush.

"Does this 'someone' have a name?" Emma asked, her voice letting him know that she was standing in the opening of the bathroom.

"You don't need to alter any memories," Erik said gruffly. "I thought that was the whole point of me being here incognito." He shoved the toothbrush into his mouth with rather more force than necessary, almost gagging on it.

"I was just curious," Emma defended herself.

Erik brushed his teeth in silence for a moment, then spat out the foam. "Charles," he finally shared, before continuing to brush his teeth. He wasn't sure why he was so damned reluctant to share information with Emma. They'd known each other for years and she was one of the few people he would ever consider calling his friend.

And he did normally trust her. He _did_ trust her, period. So he shouldn't be holding this back, should he? Maybe he'd just gotten so used to sharing everything with her. This, being himself, and not Magneto - for once he wanted to carve a little niche that didn't necessitate her or anyone else for that matter knowing the whos, whys and wherefores?

Emma was silent for a moment, but she wasn't reading his mind. Erik would have known. He knew her mental touch better than anything.

"Is he cute?" she asked.

Erik nearly choked on the toothbrush again, pulled it out and blinked tears from his eyes. Damn it. He'd kill himself with the damned thing at some point. Then he laughed, feeling the earlier tension leaving him.

"He is," Erik admitted, softer than he'd want to examine the reason for. He rinsed out the toothpaste, and dropped his toothbrush on the narrow shelf in front of the mirror. "But he's not just cute, Emma. He's nice, intelligent, plays chess. It's why we just ended up doing that and when the game room closed we moved it to his room. End of story."

"No it's not!" she replied with a laugh. "You obviously got drunk and fell asleep, failing to get what you set out for."

Erik shook his head, walking past her as he unbuttoned his shirt. "Not really, Emma. As you said so yourself, I do need to relax. Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe to relax I just need to be around someone for a while who doesn't have any high expectations of me?"

"Are you saying you’re getting tired of being our little nation's icon of power?" Emma asked curiously.

He could hear no reproach in her voice and decided to at least let her have that much. "I… I don't think I could stand to live without the work we do here, but sometimes, it's nice to spend time with someone who only knows me as Erik."

"Afraid you might lose your real identity?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Erik bit the inside of his cheek. "Sometimes, on the bad days," he admitted. "I've been Magneto for so long and so intensely that I sometimes think Erik will choke on his shadow one day and I'll look over my shoulder and find I'm no longer anything _but_ Magneto."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Erik, if you really want, I'm sure we can find a solution-"

Erik shook his head and pushed her hand off his shoulder as he slid the shirt off it as well. He grabbed a fresh t-shirt and pulled it over his head. "I'm not sure I could stand to live on the sidelines and not get involved."

"You could, as you," she said.

"Devil's advocate, my dear Emma?" They had had this conversation more than once over the years.

"Our opposition would dearly love to get you out of the way, Erik," she said quietly, "but you are first and foremost my friend. I do occasionally worry about you, you know. You're not getting any younger." Her last words were lighter and she brushed a finger along the white hairs at his temples. "You're getting older."

Erik rolled his eyes and brushed her hand away, mock glaring at her. "I'm not getting old - I'm only 30 years old. Hank says the lack of pigmentation in my hair might be linked to my powers and not aging."

"You just keep telling yourself that," Emma told him with a wink.

"Are you just going to hang around harassing me?" Erik growled at her.

"No, I do have a meeting in half an hour," she admitted. "I just wanted to check that you were alright. I might have gotten a little worried when I didn't find you in your room."

"Do I even want to know how you got in here in the first place?" he asked. He didn't really, though. She'd either bribed someone to let her in or just made sure no one saw her getting the key at the reception. Emma's way with her powers was sometimes bordering on the questionable. Sometimes even barely within the boundaries of their own laws.

"I have my ways as you have yours," she said with a wink. "Now, do try to rest and if your new acquaintance is as cute as the images I'm getting off the top of your mind, I don't understand how you couldn't have had sex last night."

"Out," Erik told her, pointing at the door.

"I mean, that's not just cute, Erik, that's pretty hot too, even I'd consider hitting that," she kept on, inching towards the door. 

"Out!" Erik repeated, trying hard not to laugh as he grabbed a cushion off the couch and threw it in her direction.

"Okay, okay. I know when I'm not wanted," Emma replied, leaving him with a wave.

Erik stared at the door as it closed behind her. Then he started laughing, dropping down to sit on the couch. Leaning back he felt the last of the tension he'd felt since Emma had brushed against his mind that morning seep out of his muscles. She'd merely been worried about him, no reason for him to feel guilty about anything. No reason for him to worry that she would be altering another set of memories. For all Charles _would_ know; Erik was just ...Erik.

Combined with the night before, he wasn't sure he'd laughed this much in ages. Maybe he should just take what he could get?

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	4. Chapter 4

_No one would have pegged a small island off Africa's coast as the next big thing on the international scene of politics and economy._

_Yet this is exactly what happened when a small group of people on the run, found an unlikely refuge on the island of Genosha. This was the island north of the Seychelles, that had been abandoned in the 70s, after riots and a declining economy made its people flee and leave a ruined city behind for mother nature to eradicate._

_The island had no known valuable natural resources. Most people found its ruined city of Hammer Bay more than a little spooky, the only people who ever really used the island were local pirates, who hid in the island's bays and inlays._

_However, in 2004, the first reports of sightings of the terrorist group Hellfire surfaced, all evidence pointing to the island of Genosha. This was just a year after the devastating fight in New York, where Hellfire suddenly turned on their leader, Sebastian Shaw, aka the Black King._

_In early 2005, the world's demands that the group stand trial were finally met with an answer. The former White Queen of Hellfire, Emma Frost stood in front of the cameras, at her side the enigmatic Magneto, whose true identity is still unknown to the world. They both addressed the demands, and for the first time the world was given a small insight into what had happened in New York two years prior._

_Neither the UN, NATO or any of the world's nations bought into the speeches at first. When asked what they wanted, the two representatives voiced their demands: 'Freedom for mutants, no matter where they were in the world - ending persecution and registration, incarceration and violence on the sole ground of the people being born differently from the norm.'_

_Of course such demands had been put forth before, quite often hamfisted as groups like Hellfire would make their demands and when these were not met instantly, would cause mayhem and destruction._

_But where this situation differed from the previous, was how it was received by the world. All of the sudden, mutants from around the world had a point to steer by, to head towards. Some sought refuge on Genosha for simple reasons. A lifetime of being seen as different, they yearned for a place to call their own, where they could live the kind of life they had always dreamed of._

_And of course others thought it would offer a quick rise to power, a pool of available people for a mutant army. Simply because Shaw was gone, it didn't mean no megalomaniac wouldn't try to fill his shoes._

_As the world watched and worried, the latter did not happen. According to rumors, Magneto was said to strike down those who came to the island with this purpose. If anyone treated the influx of refugees as easy targets for conversion, for war and indoctrination, a swift stop was put to their plans._

_**Outtake from press release January 2006 (released by the people of Genosha, signed by Magneto):** _

_**'We will not accept that anyone will attempt to prey on the refugees, nor will we allow any nation on Earth to attack Genosha to wipe out what they see as a threat. Any such sign of bad judgment or violent behaviour shall be stopped at the borders of Genosha. We want the world to leave us be, to let us at least live among ourselves, to allow us to make life more livable for those of our people who have suffered at the hands of the world.'** _

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Charles rubbed the back of his head and grinned stupidly down at the book he was reading. He'd felt slightly off kilter all morning, and not necessarily in a bad way. It was just… he kept flashing back to Erik at the most inopportune moments. Waking up with him in bed had been a reminder that he hadn't let anyone get that close in a very long time.

Again the niggling urge to lower his shields appeared, but out of habit, Charles merely pushed it down. Other people could start friendships and ...relationships without the power of telepathy and after New York, Charles had worked so hard on his shields. At least it meant these days he barely had to concentrate at all to keep them up. They were like a second skin to him.

Speaking of relationships, Charles knew he was getting ahead of himself. He couldn't know what Erik wanted, let alone if he wanted _anything_. Especially considering how he'd been in a hurry this morning to get out of Charles' hotel room.

And nothing had happened the previous night. Unfortunately. Charles allowed himself a small smile as he sipped his cool drink and turned another page in the book he was currently reading.

He'd initially thought about chasing down more information about immigration rules for Genosha. Not entirely because of Erik. Maybe a little. But most of all, Charles knew he couldn't afford to not plan ahead. If he couldn't return to Cardiff or at least the UK, without attracting the wrong kind of attention, he would have to consider getting Genoshan citizenship. From what he'd found so far, it was a hard thing to do. Unless you were persecuted - and even then, if you were on the run from a government and the charges were legitimate, you couldn't apply. Well, you could, but you'd have a lot against you. Of course, considering that Charles had always been on the right side of the law (his only trespasses were that day in New York - and even that would be questionable, depending the jury), he might have that to aid his case. Then again, he'd have to prove it and he'd shredded the note of warning he'd received before leaving.

Charles wished Raven was already there, because she was better at this legal stuff than he was. Genetics were his force. Biology as well, mutant rights were a blurry field to him. The information on immigration she'd emailed him only served to drive home the fact that his future was on shaky ground.

Still, knowing more about Genosha's history would probably be a sound place to begin. There was very little in the book about Genosha's past. Of course, the island nation had only existed for a little more than a decade. Most countries would need more time to truly make an impact on the world around them.

Most countries. Genosha had made plenty of an impact when it had first risen. As much as the guide didn't touch heavily upon it, Charles knew from the news coverage over the years, that Genosha had struggled with trade embargos in its early infancy. The world had not been at ease with an entire nation full of powerful mutants, sitting at its doorstep. Or breathing down their necks.

From what Charles could tell, most of the world had been torn between liking the idea of knowing where the mutants were and fearing that a gathering would mean a threat to them.

There was a small section in there waxing poetics about Magneto, obviously written by a fan of his. Charles knew little apart from the fact that the man had been on the wrong side of the law once, but had apparently thought better of it. There was no mention of the time before the attack on New York and the mere reminder made Charles twitch. After all these years he should have it under control. The memories. They no longer crept up on him when he wasn't looking, thankfully, but reading now, about Magneto and his allies standing up against Sebastian Shaw, who had tried to goad the world into a nuclear war; it did bring back memories.

Good as well as bad ones… mostly bad ones, painful ones.

Pain and fear filling the minds of the people in the inner city. Buildings crumbling and the air thick with dust from plaster and concrete. Reaching out to calm them all and to tell them to get to safety. The way they had all reacted to his presence. Some more than others, some quicker than others, but eventually people had stopped fleeing aimlessly. Instead they hurried from the scene of the battle towards safety without trampling everyone in their wake.

There was the building where he'd felt the strong minds, had entered and found the one thing that day had done right by him; Raven.

The pain, as steel construction tilted and buried him, the white hot flare in his legs and the thought: 'this is where it ends.'

Charles drew a deep breath and stared down at the book, unseeingly. Then having his attention diverted as he realized someone was blocking out some of the bright sunlight. He took a deep breath and looked up. Trying to put on a face that would not tell the world all his secrets.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"I know we agreed to meet tomorrow," Erik said, feeling all of the reasons he'd had for seeking out Charles again leave the forefront of his mind. He'd tracked him down to the chairs on the side of the hotel, where he'd felt perfectly confident until he'd caught the look of horror on Charles' face. Not that it had been aimed at him, but whatever it was Charles was reading, it must have been really bad.

Erik checked, as he sat down on the deck chair next to Charles. "Genosha - A very short introduction?" What the hell were they printing in those to have put that look on Charles' face a moment ago? At least the smile he was aiming at Erik was a lot more inviting. "A little light reading?" Erik asked carefully.

"Hi! Erik! Oh, yeah…" Charles rubbed the back of his head and shrugged. "Literally light reading."

"It's not going to cover what really happened around here," Erik said lightly, leaning back into the deckchair, kicking his shoes off and putting his feet up. He didn't miss the appreciative look Charles shot him - eyes flicking down the length of Erik's body and back up.

At least it didn't seem Erik had had anything to do with putting that look on his face a moment ago. Maybe Erik had simply misread it?

"Yeah, I guessed as much," Charles agreed, putting the book down and rolling onto his side to give Erik his full attention. "And don't apologize for coming to find me," he continued. His smile dimmed a little. "Unless you're here to cancel tomorrow?"

Erik opened his mouth to reply. Not that the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but… "No, of course not - I just finished the business I had earlier than I'd expected." Emma had taken him by surprise when she'd prodded at his mind and he'd… panicked. Too many times in the past it had meant a mind whammy for his one night stands.

Which was silly, since Charles didn't know who he was. Unless the thing he'd said about shielding was a lie? Erik focused hard on Charles, the way Emma had taught him. No reaction. He pictured himself bending Charles over the chair and... no, still no reaction.

Erik was kind of torn between relief and disappointment. However, at least it meant there would be no need for Emma's interference. Would be just his luck that for his little stress relief of a vacation he'd find someone with the power to lift the information he was hiding straight out of his mind.

Charles' smile returned and Erik tried not to grin just as goofily back. Because he didn't do goofy. Well, Magneto didn't, Erik might possibly do.

"If you want, the sightseeing tomorrow could be accompanied by a history lesson or two," Erik offered easily. It wasn't as if he didn't' know exactly how Genosha had come about. 

"And what would I have to do to get such extra service?" Charles asked, raising an eyebrow.

The tip of his tongue slipped out to wet his upper lip and Erik was for a moment sidetracked by it. "Have dinner with me tonight again, play chess with me," he listed. Taking a chance, he pursed his lips in mock thought. "Spend the night with me and see where it leads?" There, if he was really reading Charles wrong...

"Those are easy terms to fulfill," Charles admitted. Then he hesitated, shook his head as if to clear it and nodded decisively. "I'd like that."

Erik stood, stretched, not hiding his mirth when he watched Charles eyeing the show of skin where his t-shirt rode up. Offering a hand, he pulled Charles to his feet. Keeping hold of the hand, he stepped in close to Charles. "So, it's too early for dinner," Erik speculated. "I guess we could have a drink, even if it is in the middle of the day."

"Or we're down to chess and… the bedroom," Charles offered cheekily.

Erik laughed out loud as he watched the flush coloring Charles' cheeks. Not all of it was from the sun. "Wouldn't that be moving too fast?" he asked jokingly. Well, half-jokingly, really. As much as it was in the middle of the day, he didn't mind the mental image of spreading Charles out on a sunlit bed…

Charles shrugged. "I think we were heading in that direction regardlessly."

Spur of the moment, Erik lifted Charles' hand and pressed his dry lips to the warm skin. "We're consenting adults, we're on vacation. We can always play chess in bed?"

Charles laughed and grabbed his book with his free hand, stuffed it into the back pocket of his jeans and picked up his cane. "I do believe I like the way you think, my friend."

In the end, chess didn't make an appearance until much later.

They stumbled into Charles' hotel room, and this time the cane wasn't involved, discarded by the door as it was. But Charles was busy trying to push Erik's t-shirt up and Erik happily let himself be pulled along, letting the want of the moment course through him, the sound of blood rushing through his veins like a river roaring in his ears.

The balcony doors were open, the thin curtains drifting slowly back and forth in what little breeze there was. The white and cream room seemed almost ethereal in the afternoon sun, and Erik lost himself in touching Charles where he could reach.

Taking pity, Erik pulled his t-shirt off before pulling Charles close again, dragging his mouth along Charles' jaw, feeling the stubble against his lips. He unbuttoned Charles' shirt and pushed it down over his shoulders, trapping his arms with it for a moment, before Charles cursed and managed to pull the shirt up again, fighting with the cuffs.

Charles wasn't holding back either, running his hands up and down Erik's back when he forgot about the shirt hanging off his shoulders. He reached for Erik, fingernails lightly skimming over skin, sending shivers down Erik's spine.

Erik moaned as Charles seemed to find all the little spots that made his knees buckle and he instantly pulled Charles in tight, the naked skin of his chest feeling fantastic against Erik's as they kissed messily, open mouthed.

It wasn't until Erik slipped a hand down the back of Charles' trousers that he felt the body in his arms go still. Not to mention Charles stopped moving his hands up and down Erik's back, fingers digging almost painfully into Erik's shoulder blades.

Erik made an inquiring sound against Charles' unresponsive lips.

"I'm…" Charles breathed, barely audible, when he pulled back from the kiss. He cleared his throat, pulling further back, though no more than to allow for eye contact. "Remember I said I had been in an accident as a teenager?"

Nodding, Erik just held on. He wanted more, but the way Charles held himself, he knew if he pushed, he'd get the opposite.

"The accident took away the use of my legs for a long time," Charles said quietly. "The ability to walk. It took a lot of corrective surgery, so much physical therapy. They did a lot of skin grafting, but there's... scarring."

Erik rubbed his fingers soothingly along Charles' lower back. "Scars are just that, part of the past." He had his own share of scars scattered around his body. He was quite frankly surprised that Charles hadn't commented now that he was naked from the waist up.

And Erik wondered if maybe Charles had 'heard' him, because he traced a thin, white line from Erik's collarbone to his shoulder. "Mine are significantly worse."

Erik took a deep breath, searching for the right words. Before he could voice any, Charles carried on.

"In the past, if the fact that I'm a telepath didn't put people off, getting me naked took care of most of those," he explained, breaking eye contact and staring at Erik's neck instead. Obviously not feeling confident enough.

"Then they were fools," Erik said before he could stop himself. But he felt those words were the right ones, and they netted him Charles' full attention again. "We are made up of past experience and scars are just part of that."

"You might think differently when you see them," Charles said quietly. Still, he didn't break eye contact with Erik for another few seconds, before taking a step back, turning around and undoing his trousers, dropping them and his boxers to the floor before leaning forward, his hands on the foot-end of the bed.

Erik might have forgotten to breathe for a moment. Then air stuttered out and he pulled it in again, as deeply as he could. "For fuck's sake, Charles," he muttered, falling to his knees behind him, reaching for the other man, unsure where to touch.

Charles stilled and his shoulders sank. "That bad, huh?" he said. "I thought you said -"

"You can't just drop your pants and wave your ass at me and not expect me to react to that," Erik stopped him. He was well aware that Charles might have taken his moment of silence as something negative, but Erik had noticed the scars somewhere far down the list after 'ass', 'perfect', 'wow' and last, but not least 'mine'. The view of Charles bent forward, shirt hanging open and his trousers on the floor? Priceless.

Sure, the pale skin of the back of Charles' thighs were criss crossed with scars. Some raised and some just pale lines lacking pigmentation. The same was the case of Charles' lower back and parts of those perfectly rounded cheeks, but the whole of it? Erik was so turned on he wasn't sure where to touch first.

Reaching out, he framed the cheeks, his thumbs curving under them. Erik slid his thumbs a little further in, the tips skirting the cleft, the move eliciting a startled intake of air from Charles.

"Oh," was all Charles could say, shuffling his feet a little.

Erik smirked and leaned forward, licking from the bottom curve of the left cheek along the raised skin of a scar until he got to the cleft where he pulled them apart. Letting his tongue follow the dip, he almost had to hold Charles upright.

"Oh!" Charles repeated, voice going a little higher as he scrambled to stay on his feet. Not quite managing when Erik pulled back enough to blow air along the same path he'd just licked.

Erik repeated the movement, but this time, Charles' reaction was more… "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Charles muttered, face buried in his folded arms. "It's not that I'm not enjoying this, but this position is hell on my back."

Sighing, Erik shook his head and stood, easing Charles back up straight. Keeping his hand flat on Charles' abdomen, he held him lightly, though there was no way Charles could not feel that Erik was very much into what he'd been doing.

"Don't apologize if you're uncomfortable," he said, mouth close to Charles' ear. He could feel the full body shiver going through him and it only made him smile wider. "We've got all the time in the world, no reason to not be comfortable."

He waited for Charles to kick his trousers off while he rubbed his hands down along naked hips, folded his fingers over the hip bones, let his fingers rest against warm skin. Erik turned Charles around and leaned down for a quick, teasing kiss. One became two, became four and more as they took small shuffling steps around the bed.

Erik only let go of Charles for a moment to undo his own trousers, pushing them down over his hips. His hands tangling with Charles' as the man tried to help, slowing things down more than aiding, really, but Erik wasn't complaining. Any touch was welcome at this point.

Instead of pushing Charles down onto the bed as he would have normally, Erik gently lowered him onto the mattress, enjoying the kissing more than he'd expected and ever so mindful of Charles' back.

There was a burst of air against his mouth and Charles chuckled into their kiss. "I may experience some discomfort at some positions, Erik, but I'm not _fragile_."

Erik huffed, but took the hint, covering Charles' body with his own, kicking until his trousers gave into gravity and fell to the floor. "Tell me if it gets uncomfortable," Erik muttered against Charles' neck. It wasn't a request. Erik was dead set on making this enjoyable for the both of them. All the more reason for Charles to do this with him more than once. Preferably they wouldn't leave bed until their vacation was over and done with.

Charles' laughter was bright and clear in the warm afternoon air and Erik swallowed it up, fitting his mouth over his, drinking him in like the sweetest of wine. The warmth and firmness of his body under Erik's was heady and made his head swim. He wondered if Charles would want to be in his head while they did this. He knew from Emma that she enjoyed the connection during sex, even if they'd never been intimate with each other, he would be lying if he said he hadn't wondered about it.

But he soon forgot about it, far too caught up in touching Charles, being touched, kissing and biting at what skin he could, feeling and enjoying Charles' moving under him. His hands were firmly clamped on Erik's ass and Erik wasn't about to argue about that.

"I want to have you face to face," Erik muttered, biting at the underside of Charles' chin.

"Ca-can't," Charles gasped, letting his head fall back to allow Erik full reach. "Won't bend that way."

"I know," Erik muttered, for a moment regretting this, then noticing the full length mirror in the opposite corner. With a small laugh, he reached for its metal frame and moved it over to stand next to the bed.

He touched his fingers down behind Charles' balls and watched him moan and gasp. "Tell me you'll let me."

"I wouldn't dream of saying no," Charles said, barely audible between gasps.

"Roll onto your front," Erik said, getting up to look for anything that might aid him in what he was planning.

Charles was giving the mirror a quirked eyebrow and a small lift of the corner of his mouth. "There's lube and condoms in my toiletries in the bathroom," he said with a small laugh. "And yes, I was hoping I might have sex during this vacation, before you ask."

Erik grinned widely. "It's always good when someone comes prepared." He went into the bathroom and after rooting through some of Charles' toiletries, he found both.

Walking back into the bedroom, Erik stopped for a moment, taking in the view of Charles naked, spread out on the bed, on his front with a pillow under his hips, facing the mirror. He didn't mind that Charles was watching him with avid interest as well.

"Not sure the condoms are big enough, though," Charles joked, eyeing Erik's erection with mirth.

"They'll fit," Erik assured him. And if they were a little tight, he wasn't going to say anything. He was going to enjoy himself so much and after the earlier hitch with the scars, he was set on making sure Charles enjoyed it to the fullest as well.

Dropping the tube of lube on the bed, he put one knee up onto the mattress and ran a hand appreciatively along one of Charles' bare legs, delighting in the shiver this elicited. "And if they don't, we'll switch for the next round," he added.

Charles turned his head and buried his flushed face in the sheet. "Don't say things like that," he said, voice muffled.

"Why not?" Erik said with a laugh, already imagining just that. His cock twitched in appreciation.

"Because I'll bloody well come before you get a condom on, you bastard," Charles muttered.

Erik threw his head back and laughed wholeheartedly. "Can't have that," he replied, straddling Charles' legs, rubbing his hands up and down thighs, ass, lower back, just allowing Charles to relax.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"I'm surprised I didn't feel you in my head," Erik mumbled.

Charles winced, glad that Erik was spooned up behind him and couldn't see his face. "Shielding myself is second nature to me," he explained. "Even during sex I don't slip." He hadn't, had he?

"I wouldn't have minded if you had shared," Erik continued, half asleep.

I would, Charles thought to himself. It would have meant losing the self control he'd worked so hard to achieve. He made a noncommittal sound. Truth be told, he'd perfected his shields years ago, and taking them down was a much greater effort than keeping them up. He did envy Erik the ease with which he wielded his kinetic gift, though.

Erik ran a hand lazily down over Charles' thigh, almost ticklishly light over the scar tissue on the back. How are you so perfect? Who do I sell my soul to to be allowed to keep you? Charles thought sleepily.

"Nap," Erik mumbled, "then we'll get some dinner."

Charles was already drifting - cozy and halfway to dreamland. The room was warm, Erik's embrace was comfortable to lean into and a nap sounded like a fantastic idea.

Dreams were a rarity for Charles. The occasional memory rehashed, yes, but not actual dreams that weren't already there in his mind. However, he suddenly found himself standing in the middle of familiar surroundings, buildings toppling, the air full of dust and concrete, smoke from fires and screams from people in fear, in pain.

Familiar yet not. The first inkling that something was off was the location. Charles hadn't been that close to the battle between Shaw and his people. Close enough to be caught in the debris, but not close enough to see the actual fight. Not to mention, he'd been busy keeping a lid on everyone's panic and on keeping the girls safe.

Yet there he was. In the middle of the battle, Shaw's screams in anger - and Charles was unsure how he could know this was the man. Everything was blurred and unclear. Something sent a chill down Charles' spine. His vision seemed to be narrowing, his surroundings becoming darker at the edges. Turning his head there was nothing. More like… something out the corner of his eye.

It shouldn't be causing him to fear, it shouldn't be giving him the cold knot in the pit of his stomach either. It shouldn't--

Charles gasped soundlessly as he opened his eyes, breathing hampered by the fact that his face was buried against a warm chest, wiry arms tight around him, holding him close. Charles turned his head and took a deep breath of unencumbered air. Still, the scent of sex and sweat and whatever it was Erik washed in helped calm his mind, ground him.

A nightmare. It had been a nightmare, that was all. Even if it was strange and very much unlike his usual dreams. Especially lacking the crystal clearness of obvious memories instead of the fuzziness of whatever this nightmare had been.

Sleep wouldn't return and just as Charles realized he was actually hungry and that the sun was low in the sky, Erik stirred and the arms around Charles tightened slightly.

"Shower, food," Erik mumbled against the top of Charles' head.

"I can't have been projecting my hunger," Charles said with a small smile. He knew he hadn't. Hopefully he hadn't projected the nightmare either. The phantom image of Shaw's rage and pain resurfaced for a moment, then disappeared.

"No," Erik said, but the rumble of his stomach cut him off.

Charles buried his face against Erik's chest, the easiness and joy of being with Erik chasing away the bad dream. "Seems we're on the same page here."

"Room service or restaurant?" Erik asked when they finally sat up.

Charles reached out and flattened a tuft of Erik's hair that was standing to attention. He looked gorgeous with his hair sticking up, pillow creases criss crossing his cheek and eyes heavy-lidded with sleep.

Erik caught his hand and pressed his lips to the palm, then nipped at the fleshy part of Charles' thumb.

"I think we best get you fed quickly," Charles said drily, the warm feeling in his chest; giddiness. "Before you start snacking on me."

"Hmmm, decisions, decisions," Erik muttered, meeting his eyes. "How does ordering room service for delivery in half an hour sound and in the mean time we have a nice, long soak?"

Charles licked his lips and nodded. "I'm not sure I've ever had such a good offer," he said with a wink. "And I accept."

Room service was quickly ordered and Charles followed Erik into the bathroom, stopping dead right inside the doorway. The bathtub was already most of the way full. "Did you-"

Erik grinned at him from where he was checking bottles before dropping something into the water that made foam rise quickly along with the steam. "I may have started the bath running while we were ordering room service."

"You truly have a remarkable gift," Charles said quietly as he stepped up and touched his hand flat to Erik's bare chest. It was lovely to see how shy Erik was not, moving about completely naked and the appreciative glances he was sending in Charles' direction were quite welcome as well. Even if Charles still felt the old shyness about his scars.

Not that Erik hadn't already spent plenty of time showing Charles how much he didn't mind the scars, how much he seemed to consider it merely a part of Charles' person, like hard-won battle scars.

Erik leaned in and kissed him and Charles really couldn't find any faults in this… fling. Erik was good for his self image, no doubt about that and he could already tell that it would be hard to part once the vacation ended. Come to think of it, he hadn't even asked Erik for how long he would be staying. 

And to a certain point, Charles really didn't want to know. Silly, of course, the end of this would come whether he knew for how long he'd have Erik or not.

"If you used yours, I'd say the same," Erik muttered against his lips.

Charles stilled.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Erik backtracked. "I've no right to push."

Charles put a hand on either of Erik's arms, holding him in place. "No, it's okay," he said quietly. "It's a learned reaction, it's a survival instinct. Raven, my sister, has been trying to tell me this for years - but it doesn't change that I initially taught myself to shield constantly to avoid feeling like I was drowning."

Erik nodded. "I can't fully understand how that would be a problem, but did you ever stop to think that maybe, with adulthood, came better self control?"

Charles swallowed hard. It wasn't that he hadn't occasionally thought about it, but he'd always shied away from testing it. What if he couldn't pull himself back?

Erik leaned his head down, resting it against Charles'. "If you don't go too deep, feel free to take a skip through my surface thoughts."

Charles took a deep breath. "I have to admit no one's ever offered that before."

"I know how to keep my private thoughts deeper - my friend taught me that." Erik grinned sharply. "When we were younger she'd always complain that I was a loud thinker and that I gave her a headache."

Charles was startled by his own laughter and just like that, the tension that had stiffened his spine dissipated.

"Is it okay if I think about it?" Charles asked. He wasn't entirely sure how to go about it and he was feeling far too tired to attempt it at that moment.

"Of course," Erik assured him, and once again Charles wondered what he'd done to meet someone like Erik. And how he was supposed to let go of him again.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	5. Chapter 5

Erik nuzzled the back of Charles' head. The huffed laughter he got in reply made him laugh as well. The sun was barely coloring the horizon outside, but the open balcony door let in a fresh breeze and Erik wasn't about to go back to sleep.

Especially not if Charles was up for a better way to start the morning.

"I thought we were supposed to get a good night's sleep before heading out for the sightseeing today," Charles mumbled, stretching as much as he could within Erik's loose grasp.

"I had a good night," Erik mumbled, licking experimentally at the knob at the top of Charles' spine, causing him to push back and curse under his breath.

Erik took a deep breath as Charles' movements pushed his ass back against Erik's morning erection, taking him from pleasantly horny to achingly hard in less than two seconds.

"I-I can't remember," Charles gasped out when Erik reached down from where his hand was flat against Charles' abdomen to press his knuckles against the heat of Charles' cock, "can't remember sleeping better than- ah!"

"If you can keep talking, I'm obviously doing this wrong," Erik mumbled, biting into the tendon between shoulder and neck.

"Mmm, doing it just right," Charles mumbled, burying his face in the pillow, spreading his thighs enough to be an invitation as Erik reached for the tube of lube they had used the night before to ease friction, slicking the insides of Charles' thighs.

Erik was glad that Charles was as mellow as he was this morning, barely flinching when Erik ran the tips of his fingers over the old scars. Not that he didn't understand why Charles had been tentative about them, but scars were just that, scars. Visible memories. Most certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Sliding forward, Erik pressed down on the side of Charles' thigh, urging him to press them together. The immediate reaction and the noises escaping Charles were incredible and Erik realized he probably wouldn't have all that much time before he would be coming, not nearly as much as he'd expected, anyway.

He still wanted Charles to do this with his shielding lowered, but if Charles needed time, he'd give him that. For now he'd take whatever Charles was willing to share. And currently he was wrapped around the other man, his cock sliding between Charles' thighs, and Charles' cock firmly in his hand.

The feel of jerking Charles off was amazing. Between the pressure and slickness between the thighs, Erik lost himself in the sensations, in the way Charles writhed against him. It all felt almost ethereal after a few minutes, the morning sun lighting the room and Erik's ears and focus full of Charles' heavy breathing, hitches and moans.

Nuzzling Charles' shoulder, Erik brought him off, nice and slow, wringing out a nice long orgasm before gripping Charles' hip and thrusting until he found his own release. Wiping his hand on the sheet, Erik sighed deeply and held onto Charles, not particularly interested in getting out of bed.

"Another half hour at least," Charles muttered, "then a shower or we'll be sticking together."

Erik grinned, nipping at Charles' flushed skin.

All it really took was another fifteen minutes and Erik had to obey the demands of his bladder. Staring at himself in the mirror as he washed his hands afterwards, he had to grin at himself. He hadn't felt this relaxed in ages.

A quick wipe with a washcloth and he returned to find Charles waiting for his turn. 

"I'm going to hit the shower," Charles said, "joining me?"

Erik, who out of habit, had picked up his phone, noticed a call from Emma.

"We probably won't get out of here today if I do," he replied with a wink. "Shower, I've got a call to return and when I've had my turn, I'm taking you out to breakfast."

The smile on Charles' face was fantastic and Erik had to mirror it.

"Part of me can't really see any problem in that," Charles sniggered as he passed Erik, running a teasing hand down his backside.

Erik jumped a little, staring after Charles and seriously considering joining him in the shower.

Shaking his head, he sat down on the bed, bringing up the last call and re-dialing.

"Emma."

 _"Good morning, Erik - or rather, late morning,"_ she teased.

Erik snorted. "I had no reason to get out of bed."

 _"More like a good reason to stay in bed, huh?"_ she asked.

Erik tilted his head and slipped out onto the balcony. "Very true."

 _"I just wanted to make sure that everything was alright._ She sounded like she was perfectly at ease, just making a social call. Yet, something still nagged Erik, but as he wasn't sure how to pin it down, he let it go. For the time being, at least.

"It is," he assured her. Then he realized he had the perfect opportunity to ask. "Emma, can I ask you something else?"

 _"You don't normally hold back,"_ she said drily.

Erik rolled his eyes, even if it was a wasted effort as she couldn't see it. "You once said that shielding off your powers, takes a lot of energy."

 _"Yes,_ Emma replied. _"Why do you ask?"_

"How powerful would you have to be to shield constantly - not just when you're awake, but when you sleep as well?"

Emma was quiet at the other end. _"It takes quite a bit,"_ she said. _"But to do so 24/7, Erik… that takes more than just your bog standard telepath."_

"Hmmm, thought as much," Erik mumbled, staring into the hotel room. "Could he be less powerful so it would make it easier?"

_"If he's a telepath and he's had to learn to shield himself constantly, he'll be high on the scale, Erik. It's not something we do for fun. If he's had to learn, it won't have been without good reason."_

Erik grunted in agreement. He'd sort of figured that out already. It didn't make the mystery surrounding Charles' powers any less enticing.

 _"Are you contemplating recruitment, Erik?"_ Emma teased.

Erik hadn't even considered that. But if he brought Charles into the fold, wouldn't it mean Emma would have to mess with his memories of Erik? "Not so far, no."

 _"If you say so, Sugar,"_ she drawled.

"Talk to you later, Emma," Erik said before hanging up. Dropping the phone on the bed, he decided he'd join Charles after all. Couldn't hurt to help get those hard to reach places.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"So, you know a lot more about Genosha's history than I can read in the books, don't you?" Charles asked as they walked down the street. Even this early in the day it was already far too hot and humid for his taste. But he was out and about, with Erik, who'd let slip enough information a few times to make Charles believe that he had a lot more knowledge than Charles could possibly find on his own. Not to mention, Charles had always loved information and sought it anywhere he could - no matter the topic.

"Oh, I do," Erik said with a grin, handing over the styropor cup of tea while he sipped his own coffee he'd gotten them from the coffee shop on the corner. "Although there's probably a lot more coincidences in there than intent," he admitted.

"Well, if you were being honest when you said we had all day, I'm all ears." Charles stared at the tea for a moment, wondering how Erik had sussed him out this quickly.

"For starters," Erik said, "Genosha wasn't so much founded as it started out as a hiding place for what was left of Hellfire."

"Who attacked New York," Charles said with a nod. They were and had been, the roots to most of his nightmares since that day.

"Well," Erik shrugged. "The ones who fled here eventually, were the ones who put a stop to Shaw."

"Does that really negate what they did before?" Sins of the past and all. Charles wondered to himself if a good deed could remove a bad.

"You don't think people deserve a second chance?" Erik asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Charles opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. It was true that he normally thought everyone should have a second chance, but he wasn't naive. Hadn't been naive in many years - if truly ever. Then again, Erik had hit a spot there. "No, I do believe there are second chances for most people, but Erik you have to admit that some of the things that came from Hellfire-"

Erik laughed throatily, without much mirth. "Oh, trust me. I know what Shaw did and what he wanted. I also know that the group eventually stood up to him, stopped him, even."

"In order to save their own lives?" Charles guessed. He'd read Shaw's manifesto a few years after the attack on New York. Simply to try to understand the man. What had driven him.

"Well, you can't really blame them, now can you?" Erik said with a grin. "And if they ended up saving the rest of the world from Shaw's insanity, then that's just an added bonus."

Charles shrugged. "I guess you're right about that. So this was just a place for hiding?"

Erik nodded as he led Charles down another side street. "Haven is, so far, the only city on Genosha - but there are plans for smaller settlements around Genosha - but it's a lengthy process. We have to make sure it's environmentally sound before we start building. Both actual buildings and infrastructure," he said. Pointing at an open area that Charles had seen in the guidebooks, he continued: "This is the city center, plaza of Haven". Charles was slightly amused by the statue in the middle, even more so now that he saw it for real.

"What? No statue of Magneto?" he asked.

Erik turned to give him the oddest look, then shook his head. "No, it was done as a reaction to something our government officials had read. That it was all down to genetics - and that it's not much that divides us as mutants from humans. If not for Shaw's insanity, I'm not sure they would have ever gone over to the other side."

"The other side?"

"Trying so hard to see things from both sides, trying to see that we weren't as different from humans as Shaw wanted us to think. That what could kill a human could kill most mutants as well."

"So you have two twined DNA sequences in stone and metal?" Charles asked. He found it amusing and more than a little surprising.

"Don't laugh," Erik said with a shrug. "Our fearless leaders had read a paper on Homo Sapiens VS Homo Sapiens Superior by a Professor Xavier - a rather controversial paper, granted but definitely one that gave everyone food for thought."

Charles stopped dead in his tracks. Oh dear. It couldn't…

"In the end…" Erik trailed off and stopped, a few steps ahead of Charles. "Something wrong?"

"No, not at all," Charles hurriedly said. "So minds were changed?" Christ, if Erik only knew… and he'd never thought he'd have such an impact when he'd channeled all the research he'd been unable to incorporate in his normal studies into a paper and published it under his real name. Of course it had generated quite a fuss to have the Xavier name once again tied to genetics studies - Brian Xavier had left a legacy in name at least when he'd died. And it had probably been idiotic to let the world know his son was still alive - somewhere.

"Probably more than you can imagine," Erik said with a laugh. "Not everyone back then was against Shaw's ideals, just his methods." He shrugged and went on. "Initially the plaza came up for decoration and ...someone jokingly said we should put up the two DNA helices."

Charles laughed. "So you're saying it was a joke?"

"Yes and no," Erik said. "I think we were just throwing ideas around at the time." He tapped Charles on the shoulder and pointed at another small coffee shop. "Let's get a couple of cool drinks and I'll show you some of the sights."

Charles happily followed, getting himself an iced coffee suggested by Erik and that he had to admit was pretty tasty as well and cooling him down in the already scorching heat.

"So, how did Hellfire go from refugees to politicians?" he asked curiously.

Erik chuckled. "It certainly wasn't overnight. After Shaw, most of the divisions of Hellfire were divided all over the world. Eventually most of Shaw's inner circle ended up here. Half a century ago, Genosha was a thriving little island state. However, due to civil unrest, riots, political stupidity etc, its economy crashed and eventually people just moved away. The original capitol on the south coast is still there, buried under mother nature."

Charles looked up, interest peaked. "Is it possible to go there?" He was quite curious about what it looked like after he'd read about it.

Erik grinned at him, obviously knowing what he meant. "Not really. There are still roads, but since they aren't used anymore, they are quite overgrown. I was there a few years ago, if you want to?" he tapped his temple.

Charles took a deep breath. "You know," he started. 

"Come on, Charles," Erik drawled, "you have a gift, don't be afraid to use it."

Charles rolled his eyes, ready to drum up his usual excuses. Then stopped. Taking a deep breath, he imagined taking a stone out of his wall; just enough to catch the visual memory that Erik was all but throwing at him. "You're very good at that," Charles admitted, resetting his mental shields. The images he had gleaned off Erik were both sad and awe inspiring. A dead city, yet not. Concrete buried under nature - alive with so much other than people.

"I do have a very old friend who's a telepath - she taught me early on to do this." Erik led him down a side road to a strange looking building.

Charles cocked his head to the side and stared. "Is it just me or is the steel fused with the granite and the glass?" he finally asked. It was a gorgeous building, twenty or so stories high. The exterior was a beautiful fusion of granite, gleaming steel and glass section that would be nearly impossible to create.

"I thought you might like this," Erik said with a laugh. "It's the tallest building in Haven," he explained. "There's a natural limit as to how high we can build a structure - mainly due to the processing of materials. And we're not trying to compete with Dubai," he added with a wink. "It's also a perfect example of how working together can achieve what might otherwise seem impossible."

"How so?" Charles asked, putting his hand against the stone. It felt smooth and wonderfully cool under his hands. In many ways the style reminded Charles of Barcelona. Not quite as ornamented, but the smooth, curvy lines landed somewhere between fairy tale and sci-fi.

"One reason why Genosha wasn't re-settled after the decline of the previous settlers," Erik explained, "is that the island wasn't supposed to have any natural resources. The underground was tested in the 70s - just prior to the fall of Hammer Bay; the capital. They found nothing. When mutants settled here, due to first the nature of hiding and then the trade embargos that initially blocked us from getting anything from the outside, we had to build from what we had - so no natural resources as such, and whatever we could scavenge from the ruins of Hammer Bay." Erik paused and put his hand next to Charles' - close enough for it to not be an accidental touch when his little finger slid against Charles'.

Charles stared at their hands for a moment, caught in the rush of emotions the touch engendered. "This isn't just recycling, though," Charles said tilting his head back to look up the building, trying not to be weird about it.

Erik laughed, brushing his hand against Charles' again when he moved it. "No, we got… creative. As for resources, we did later show the world that there is platinum in the deep of our underground, but we only process what is sustainable for the island. But before that and as I mentioned, with the trade embargos, we realized that the greatest resources we had were ourselves."

"You created this?" Charles had read about this, but it had all seemed… strange. And he'd not paid much attention to the process as architecture and building science were not on his extensive list of topics of interest. However, he was beginning to think he might have been remiss.

Erik nodded, a softer look on his face. "In the beginning there weren't many of us here, but once the word spread that we would welcome any mutant who needed it, we were getting a lot more people in than we could initially support and shelter. Genosha is a warm place, but the weather can be temperamental. However, we lucked out and while the first years were hard, we had mutants with powers ranging from microwaves to fire who, it turned out, could melt sand to form glass - powers that controlled magnetism - and while rare, there are a few individuals who are capable of doing this - bending metal." Erik reached out and put a hand on the wall next to Charles'. "We can only manipulate the materials to a certain degree, so every building will at some point deviate from the blueprints - depending on the materials and how they react to the process. We have mutants who can reshape granite, minerals and so on and by working together we created a magnificent city."

"It is beautiful," Charles agreed. And to think it was created by mutation.

"We never thought that it would become the foundation of one of our most valuable sources of income," Erik said with a small laugh.

"Oh?" Charles turned to look at him and found Erik standing a lot closer to him than he'd expected.

"Eco-tourism," Erik said with shrug. "Apparently there's a great deal of money to be made in tourists wanting to experience and learn about sustainable building and energy sources."

"You recently had a joint venture with Stark Industries, didn't you?" Charles asked curiously. He was sure he'd seen that somewhere.

Erik nodded. "Yeah, we have some pretty damned smart people here and one of them, Dr McCoy, is on very friendly terms with Mr. Stark. Together they adapted a version of his arc reactor technology to run our power station instead of solely depending on fossil fuels."

"So instead of being the scorn of the world, you've become the picture perfect role model," Charles suggested with a quirk of his lips. Talk about cosmic karma.

Erik huffed, but his lips curved into a grin. "That's pretty much it. Mind you, the first years weren't easy, especially not once the trade embargos came into play. We lived off the land so to speak and what we could ...smuggle in. For a long time teleporters were a necessity for our survival."

"From what I know, you grow a lot of your own produce?" Charles asked as they moved along the building and he spotted the market, bustling full of stalls and people.

"We are self sustaining with what can be grown in this climate," Erik agreed. "Anything else, we have to import. So far we've been able to grow sufficient amounts, but we don't want to end up depleting the soil and damaging the environment."

Charles opened his mouth to ask another question, then stopped dead. Right ahead of them was a tall, stunning red-headed woman, who turned, looked at them and with wide eyes stared at him.

However, she turned to Erik first and gave him a respectful nod, a frown on her face. Charles took a quick chance and lowered his shields just enough to stop her before she could say anything. It seemed like less than half a day out and he was using his gift more than he had in years. But he had to, because he'd have recognized those eyes and the face anywhere, even if she'd only been five or six when they'd first met.

Right in the middle of a ruined New York.

 _'Jean, I'm… don't… he doesn't know I was in New York.'_ He tried to convey to her that he really would prefer not to have to explain how they knew each other and through that what he'd rather not remember from New York.

 _'Charles… if you that is your wish,'_ Her voice was a soft as it had been back then, when he'd found her crying, clinging to Raven in the middle of the crumbling building. _'But oh, it is so good to see you.'_

Charles took a deep breath. He did not want to rehash what had happened in New York, but he knew how unfair it would be to deny her time to talk. He let her hear the name of his hotel. _'I'm here as Charles Pembroke, you can contact me that way.'_ Though he hoped she wouldn't - deep down. Because she'd make him remember those hours.

She sent him a wave of reassurance before he put his walls back up. He tuned back into the conversation she was having with Erik, obviously she knew him. He only managed to get the tail end as Erik gave her a short nod and she waved good bye to the both of them, careful not to stare at Charles.

Erik turned to him, opened his mouth to say something, but something whistled through the air, making a little popping noise. Erik looked a little surprised, a frown on his face, then shook his head. "I must be hearing things."

"I heard a low whistling sound as well," Charles said with a shrug. "Don't know what it was though."

"Sounded almost like a projectile," Erik said, jokingly. "But one, we don't allow weapons on Genoshan soil - most of us _being_ weapons notwithstanding. And two, I'd have felt... ," Erik drifted off for a moment, looking a little panicked. "Nevermind," he muttered. "Things go pop and boom around here more often than you'd think," he said with a shrug, "manifesting is a bit of a gamble around here - we have people standing by to help families if it gets too volatile." Erik looked relieved when he pointed over at a young teen, popping chewing gum and entertaining a flock of smaller children by popping bubbles of light. "That would be what we heard."

"I can see how more combustible powers might prove a problem when manifesting," Charles agreed. At least these children weren't made to feel like freaks - but were probably helped into their gifts with a lot more understanding than most other places on earth.

Erik gave him a small smile. "Come on, I get the feeling you'll love the stalls of the market." And with that he took Charles' hand and dragged him further into the busy marketplace.

Charles put the moment out of his head and followed Erik's lead to the first row of stalls.

The lines of stalls were teeming with people of all age groups, skin color and with so many physical mutations visible that Charles felt like he'd come home. No one seemed to look with animosity at anyone else here. With a laugh, Charles sidestepped two young children running along the stalls, each with a sticky, sugary treat in hand. One could very well be a human, or at least had no visible mutations, while the other girl had hair reminiscent of a lion's mane and when Erik pulled him sideways to steady him, Charles noticed that she had a tail to go with it.

The first stall he looked at sold clothes and Charles considered for a moment buying something. Mostly because he was fairly sure the lightweight material would be much more comfortable in Genosha's heat than what he'd brought with him.

"You should get this," Erik said, holding out a light shirt in pale green that had no buttons but obviously tied at the side. "It'd suit you and you won't overheat quite so easily," he added with a wink.

Charles grinned. "I know. Although I'd been told it was hot here, I didn't quite foresee it being _this_ hot."

Erik held up a pair of white canvas trousers and Charles happily bartered with the man in the stall for a few moments. He turned to find Erik looking at something that looked like a long skirt with a calculation look on his face.

"You'd look good in this," Erik said, pointing at it.

Charles shook his head. Although he'd seen both men and women wear the wrap-arounds he was fairly sure that was a little too much for someone like himself.

Leaning in, Erik put his mouth right next to Charles' ear and whispered: "If you choose a shorter one, it'll be easy access."

Charles drew in a short, surprised breath, feeling his face heat.

"I'd love to know how far down that blush goes," Erik continued.

Charles cleared his throat and tried to glare at Erik, but couldn't quite fight off the laughter bubbling in his chest. "You're incorrigible," he scolded.

Erik shrugged, unapologetically.

"Is there anything you won't turn into a sexual innuendo?" Charles joked.

Erik grinned and nodded, putting his arm around him, hand on Charles' waist. It felt… nice. Very nice, actually. "I'll try to avoid the stalls with fertility craftwork, then," he replied.

Charles laughed again and pinched Erik's arm in retaliation. He loved how at ease they were, how much Charles felt at home in this strange, new place. He couldn't help looking at all those gorgeous physical mutations, and how well people seemed to get along with each other and no one stared, no one pointed fingers.

He had to admit that Erik had been right. The stalls were indeed much to his liking. Down the other side were stalls selling food. Some dried and packed up, others were more typical market foods, cheeses, vegetables and much to Charles' delight, fried food.

"I've lived a lot of years in the UK, Erik," he explained when the other quirked an eyebrow at his obvious appreciation of a small paper cone of fried mushrooms and potatoes. "Fried food is a godsent at any time."

Erik shook his head. "I've never been," he admitted.

"No?" Charles eyed him for a moment.

"No," Erik repeated. "Are you offering to take me and show me around?"

Charles felt his face heat. "That could be arranged," he said with a laugh. He could joke about this, a little, even if he never managed to go back himself. Once Raven joined him, they could start sorting out if anyone actually knew enough to find him, or if it had all been a scare for no reason.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them and they both turned. Charles blanched when he recognized the man. It had been so long since New York, but he hadn't changed one bit. And he was not only acting familiar towards Erik, but the look he was giving Charles was definitely one of recognition. And right after running into Jean again...

"Logan," Erik said, eyes wide.

Charles focused inwardly, lowered his shields again, just enough to put a small tendril out and push it towards the newcomer. He did remember Logan having some sort of natural resistance to his telepathy, but he had to try. _'Please, don't mention New York.'_ He might have not quite managed to keep the panic out of his voice. If Erik learned of New York, Charles might have to answer questions he wasn't quite ready for yet.

Logan stared at him and gave him a toothy grin. "Who's your friend, ...Erik?"

Erik ran a hand through his hair and glared at Logan. "A friend, Charles, Logan, Logan, Charles."

Logan grabbed Charles' hand that he'd extended out of habit. "Nice to meet you, Charles," he drawled. When Erik turned his head for a moment, Logan leaned in and muttered, barely audible: "It's okay, Chuck, Jean already told me - I just had to see for myself."

Charles made a face. For the few hours he'd known Logan on that fateful day, he'd definitely not missed Logan's habit of using nicknames.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Erik took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes at Logan. So few people knew his identity and they just had to run into two of them within such a short time? As if Erik wasn't giving enough away by giving Charles the history lesson? He was trying to limit it to what would be general knowledge on Genosha, but if he wasn't careful, he might give something away he wasn't ready to.

"Logan, nice to see you. I'm just showing Charles here around our lovely capital." He wanted to grind his teeth and tell Logan to go away. He didn't like the calculating look mixed with amusement that crossed Logan's face for a moment.

He wanted to ask what Logan had told Charles in a voice too low for Erik to catch, but it was none of his business. Charles did however look a little ill at ease, so maybe Erik should just get them away from any more liabilities. If he really ran out of luck, he was sure they'd run into Emma, who'd do it simply to torture him.

He wasn't entirely sure Logan wasn't doing this for the very same reason. At least he'd let go of Charles' hand.

"Erik," Logan said, turning his attention back to Erik. "There's a few official things I need to go take care of, you kids have fun."

Erik nodded. If only Logan would leave before he gave too much away. At least having Logan look relaxed like this meant that everything was alright - Erik couldn't help worrying a little. He rarely took time off and he'd had to sit through Emma's rant on him being a control freak more times than he cared to remember.

Logan left them with a nod at Erik and a smirk at Charles, who looked torn between worry and relief.

Charles seemed to visibly shake himself and gave Erik a pale echo of the smiles he'd been the target off for the past day. "Work with the government, Erik?" he asked curiously.

"I hope that's not a deal breaker," Erik deflected, tugging him further along the stalls. He took the chance and left his arm curved around Charles' shoulder as they perused the wares on sale. Much to his delight, Charles didn't seem to mind - he even leaned into Erik's side.

"No, not at all," Charles said, his unease apparently having to do with Logan and not the possibility of Erik working with the government. Well, he might see it differently if he knew exactly who Erik was, but until that happened, if ever, Erik wasn't going to borrow trouble.

"So you don't mind if I'm a government cronie?" Erik asked curiously. He could dream couldn't he? Not that Emma was going to let him keep Charles when his vacation was over, but still…

"Considering that it'd be the Genoshan government, and considering...," Charles stopped, for a moment, then turned around, stopping Erik where they were, in front of a stall that sold some sugary sweet confectionary. "Well," he started again, shrugging with a frown. "I might eventually end up trying to move here."

"You know it's not that easy to get in here, right?" Erik asked. He wished they could take any and all mutants who might wish to come live there, but they also had to focus on taking in the ones that were really in need of it, persecuted by their own governments. And considering that as well as the Genoshan economy was going currently, they did have to balance everything out. "I mean, if you're in danger in your own country, that's a way to get in, and if you can fill out specific work related positions, that too," he admitted. He wanted to offer Charles to get him in, but then realized that although he'd only known Charles for a short time, he was fairly sure that the other man wasn't looking for charity.

"I'm well aware of the rules, Erik," Charles said with a sigh. "And… no, I should be safe enough where I currently live." 

"Wales, wasn't it?" Erik asked. He was pretty sure Charles had mentioned something during dinner.

"Yeah, still teaching at the university," Charles said with a nod. "Genetics to be specific. I've studied human and mutant genetics for many years. and I'm very well aware that my powers are not the type that get me an instant work visa in Genosha."

Erik nodded. Quite frankly the fact that Charles was a telepath might even work against him. As much as they prided themselves of being a safe haven for mutants, most people, humans and mutants alike, seemed to feel uneasy around telepaths. He'd had to listen to Emma bitch about that enough times to pay attention to it. And not everyone was lucky enough to grow up together with one and becoming used to their abilities and the ways they used them.

"So, if you're safe enough where you are," Erik mused, paying the vendor for a couple of sticky apple pockets, "then what's your reason for wanting to move here?"

Stupidly, and he squashed the thought instantly, he thought that maybe his charms had enticed Charles enough to make him want to stay.

"I like it here," Charles said with a shy smile, "and I've been reading about the educational system of Genosha and while I was quite impressed, I still think the system could do with some higher educations - your university level educations aren't in the world's top ten - and I quite frankly think it could be. You lack sufficient university level education for one."

Erik chuckled. It was one of those things that always got discussed. In the beginning the educational system had mostly been haphazardly put together, mostly to make sure that the basics were covered and that people learned to control and use their powers - if they had anything that could further building and renovation - their version of terraforming - then that would be prioritized. None of the government officials knew all that much about education - most came from other backgrounds and while they did have some good teachers around, they did need something grander.

He was pretty sure that he could pitch something like that to Emma and make it stick if he could put her in the same room as Charles. Even the Ice Queen wouldn't be able to stand up to Charles and his powers of persuasion. And how the hell he'd gone from never wanting them to meet to this in a heartbeat, he'd never know.

Erik smiled to himself.

"Something amusing you, my friend?" Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.

Erik shrugged. "You could always put that on your application if you do end up applying," he said, keeping his voice carefully neutral. If Charles moved to Genosha, Erik would have a hell of a hard time not pursuing him more seriously. He wasn't so stupid he put all that much faith in his own ability to forget Charles when he left - let alone if he returned and they ended up living in the same city.

That would put a hell of a cramp on Magneto's life, not to mention Erik's. But it was an enticing idea.

"That I could revamp you educational system?" Charles said with a laugh. "I'm a professor, Erik, not a politician, so no dice."

"Worth a try," Erik muttered with a small grin. But he couldn't quite help wonder. Genosha being as young as it was, had no university as such. Just a few select university level courses at college. No higher levels of education. Sure, they'd talked about it, every once in a while, but they hadn't managed to get that up and running yet, more focused on survival and becoming self sufficient. Although he'd had Hank voicing his annoyance with the lack of education and telling both Emma and him that they'd need it if they were to be truly independent of the outside world.

"Maybe," Charles said, snagging his hand and squeezing it, and much to Erik's pleasure he didn't let go again. "Now, please continue the history lesson that was so rudely interrupted."

Erik grinned. "Well, is there any specific part you'd like to know?"

"What happened after Atlantis broke the trade embargo?" Charles asked. "I mean, I know there was a period from that and until other countries followed suit."

"Well, Namor was always lenient towards us and you know Atlantis didn't always follow the rest of the world's ideas of what was considered right and wrong," Erik continued. 

Charles nodded. "But still, there was a slip before the EU followed suit, wasn't there?"

Erik huffed. "Yeah, actually it wasn't so much the EU that followed suit, as it was the UK and then the rest of them. It helped our case a lot that we had a hand in saving the lives of their foreign minister's family members. Her brother-in-law and his family were sailing around the world and ended up being taken by Somali pirates."

Charles tugged him down along another set of stalls. "I remember hearing about that," he said. "As far as I recall, they were held prisoner for a very short time." 

"Well, we'd been keeping an eye on the situation down here but it was right at the height of the embargo, just after Atlantis started doing trade with us. We were still very much in need of things we couldn't make or grow on Genosha itself - we kept our own coastal lines clear of pirates - and they did know better than to try to get too close," he explained. They'd sunk more than a few of them in the beginning when they'd still been curious about the island's new inhabitants. "But in this case we were made aware of it by some of the visitors we had from Atlantis, not to mention they did get a little too close to our coastline."

"So you taught them a lesson?" Charles asked.

"More that than trying to save a bunch of humans who shouldn't have put their own lives on the line in the first place," Erik said with a snort. "The area is dangerous if you can't take care of yourself and the pirates are ruthless."

Charles turned his head and studied him for a moment, then smirked. "It was utter coincidence wasn't it?"

"Completely," Erik admitted with a laugh.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Charles held his breath for a moment when the knock to his door echoed through his hotel room. He'd gone back to his room to shower and put on a clean set of clothes. Most days in Genosha, he seemed to sweat through several sets a day. At least the hotel had a great cleaning service including laundry, so he wasn't complaining.

The knock was repeated and Charles could imagine the mind ghosting along his walls. The longing was almost enough for him to let her in, but he calmed himself. It had been a long time and it was safer if he didn't.

As Charles unlocked his door, he wondered if he was inviting in trouble. When he stepped aside, the thought fled his mind. He gestured for Jean to step inside and then closed the door behind her. For a moment, they stood, staring at each other. Then apparently Jean found what she'd been looking for and Charles was swept up in a surprisingly strong embrace.

"It's been so long," she muttered, face buried in his hair. "I thought you'd died." Charles found she had a good half head of height on him and he marveled at how much she'd grown since he'd last seen her.

"I'm… sorry," he managed, fighting a few tears of his own. He had tried to keep track of her whereabouts, but social services rarely shared and with Charles fighting to get through his physical therapy, she'd been long gone when he'd finally been able to look for her. To find her here, thriving among other mutants...

Clearing his throat, Charles finally stood back, but kept hold of her hands. "Look at you," he said, sniffing lightly. "All grown up and stunning."

Jean laughed sniffed back a few tears as well. "Yeah, you haven't grown much," she teased.

"Oy," Charles laughed, pulling her in close again. "We can't all be tall and gorgeous."

"I'm not complaining, Charles, you're as cute as you were back then, even if I was too young to see it," she said softly.

"Well, I'll take cute if I can get away with it," he agreed. Stepping back again, he gestured at one of the two chairs. "Sit. Is there anything I can get you?"

She shook her head, but sat down. "I can't stay for long - but I was in the area workwise, so I figured I'd swing by and see if you were… busy."

Charles coughed. "You're in luck."

"No, not really," she admitted. "I checked in with work and a colleague told me that they were on the phone with Erik, so I knew I could steal you for a bit."

Charles stared at her for a moment. "I am so tempted to ask how you know Erik and what you know about him but, I think…," he trailed off when she narrowed her eyes at him.

"If it wasn't for the fact that Erik is a grown man and I doubt you would hurt him, I'd ask you if your intentions were honorable," she said, quietly.

Charles couldn't help the laugh escaping him, his face heating.

"Yeah, didn't need to know that," Jean laughed.

"I like him, he's lovely," Charles said, feeling mildly defensive.

"Erik? I've heard a lot of adjectives when it comes to him. lovely was never one of them. Contrary, temperamental…"

"That I can imagine," Charles replied with a small chuckle.

"But to you he's nice. Well it had to happen at some point," she muttered to herself.

Charles decided he wasn't going to ask her to explain. "I just like getting to know him and Erik will share what he want with me. I'm just surprised to find you here and you _knowing_ him," Charles hurriedly explained. "But I'm glad you _are_ here and that you're doing well."

Jean smiled softly. "Yeah, I'm pretty glad to see you're alive. Now I just need to know what happened to Raven."

"She's good," Charles assured her. "She'll be joining me here when she's done with some of her work in Washington."

"Really?" Jean's smile widened and she looked like Christmas had come early. "Oh, please, Charles, tell me you'll let me know when she gets here."

"I wouldn't dream of keeping it from you - she'll be wanting to see you as well," Charles assured her.

"And Logan," Jean said shrewdly.

Charles nodded. "Logan, too." For all that he was trying to lay low, he couldn't say no to these two people. Jean had been so young, and Logan had... Logan had gotten him out and to a hospital. Charles squashed the memories. "We'll have our own little reunion."

Something beeped and Jean sighed, pulling a mobile from her pocket. "Work calls," she said, a look of regret on her face. Pulling a card from one of her pockets, she handed it to him. "Don't forget you promised to let me know when Raven gets here - and if you can tear yourself away from Erik for long enough, I'd love to have dinner with you and catch up."

Catching up meant sharing some of the things that had happened - possibly having to explain why he wasn't going by his real name. However, Charles could admit, at least to himself, that he could do with a few people on his side - especially after keeping a low profile for so many years.

"I promise," he said, taking the card. "I promise."

"Good," Jean sniffed, then laughed, hugging him as they both stood. "I'll hunt you down if you don't."

Charles shook his head. "You won't have to."

She waved goodbye to him and left him to his own thoughts.

"I'm not exactly making things less complicated for myself, now am I?" Charles asked out loud to no one.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	6. Chapter 6

Erik pulled him along down a narrow path at the side of the park.

"I don't go here nearly often enough," Erik said. "I tend to work more than is probably good for me. Emma would call me a workaholic, if I let her." He grinned that wide, slightly intimidating smile that Charles was fast beginning to not only like, but finding more than a little hot as well. 

"If you love your job," Charles said, silently lamenting the fact that he might not get to go back to his.

"Emma would tell you that I'm a control freak," Erik shared, tugging Charles in close as they walked along the path, "not that she'd say it to my face."

"And why is that?" Charles asked curiously, not for the first time hoping to meet this friend of Erik's that seemed to be such an intimate part of Erik's life. She had obviously been a large influence that was partly to thank for Erik's ease around a telepath.

Erik laughed out loud, sounding more carefree than Charles had seen him until now. "Pot, kettle," Erik said, leaning so close that Charles could feel his breath on his ear. 

Charles grinned. "So you're a perfect match," he replied, wondering if Erik had ever been attracted to her that way. 

As if he was the one to read Charles' mind, Erik made a pained noise. "I may be bi, but one, I like my balls where they are and two, we'd probably end up killing each other within a week." 

"Surely she can't be that bad, my friend," Charles said with a laugh. Although it did make him think of his over protective sister.

"She's tall, gorgeous and eats men for breakfast," Erik confided in him.

"Sounds like she's larger than life." Definitely sounded like Raven - even if Charles preferred not knowing she had a sex life of any kind.

"She is. I've known her since I was around ten. She's my sister in all but blood."

Charles squeezed Erik's waist, enjoying being allowed to be a little clingy. "Raven's the same. We're not related by blood but by choice." She was one of the few positive things he'd had happen to him since New York.

Erik guided him off the path to a small patch of sunlit grass among the trees. Charles bit his lower lip as he watched Erik step away, put down the back pack he'd had slung over one shoulder, pulled out a blanket and unfolded it on the ground.

"A picnic?" Charles asked in surprise. He'd always thought this was something ...couples in romance stories did, but he'd only come close when he'd taken a blanket down onto the grassy field at Oxford University - and Oxford had nothing of the brilliantly warm weather that Genosha did.

Erik stilled, then turned his head over his shoulder, not quite meeting Charles' gaze. "Too much?" he asked.

"Oh, no!" Charles said hurriedly, no able to keep the warmth out of his voice, feeling a little breathless. "I've never had anyone treat me to a picnic before, that's all."

Erik huffed. "Their loss," he muttered.

Charles felt heat rise to his face, but he couldn't really bring himself to feel anything but enamored. More enamored, probably, because it seemed everything Erik did was exactly the right thing at the right time and it kept surprising Charles. He wasn't sure he wanted to investigate why that probably said more about his lack of a romantic life than it did about Erik's slightly old fashioned romantic habits.

And he was never letting Raven in on this, because he'd never hear the end of it. As much as he knew that she worried about the warnings as he did, he also knew she'd occasionally been on the barricades about his love life - or rather; lack thereof.

Erik sat down and patted the blanket next to him. "Come sit, I won't bite." The words might have been believable if not for the toothy grin that accompanied them.

"I know, after last night," Charles mused as he sat down, mindful of his lower back and legs, "that you do, in fact, bite."

Erik lay down on the blanket, hands behind his head and a smirk on his lips. "I don't recall you complaining," he replied.

Charles rolled his eyes and took a page out of Erik's book, lying down on the blanket as well. He could feel the uneven ground under the grass and blanket, but the little spot Erik had lead him to was nice and quiet, it was warm and he couldn't complain about the company.

They were quiet for a little while and Charles would have thought such a lapse in conversation would have made things... awkward, but instead it was nice and he found himself drifting a little.

"So, you have Raven, I have Emma," Erik said, voice soft and sounding as if he wasn't too far from drifting off as well. "Is that the extent of family for us?"

"I…" Charles trailed off. He wasn't sure how wise it would be to share too much with Erik, especially not after Erik's admission that something Charles had written under his real name had made such an impact. "She's the only family that matters," he finally said. "My father died when I was very young, my mother... wasn't very motherly and she remarried a man who... let's just say he wasn't a good father."

Erik was quiet for a moment and then he slipped his hand into Charles' and Charles might possibly have gone a little more over him.

"My stepfather and my step brother were both... bullies at heart, I guess you could say," Charles finally said, doing what he could to not think about what life had been like in Westchester.

"Good riddance?" Erik asked, squeezing his hand.

"Oh, absolutely," Charles agreed. "In the end I met Raven and she kind of decided to stay with me and the rest is, as they say, history."

"Emma isn't the only one I grew up with," Erik said quietly. "There were others. Though not all of them are here now," he admitted. "Most of them are still around, though, and while I still see them every now and again, Emma's been the only constant in my life." Erik huffed out a small laugh. "Sometimes I think it's her job just to make my life more difficult."

Charles chuckled, letting the heat of the sunshine suffuse his body. "Sounds a lot like Raven."

Feeling Erik shift next to him, Charles opened his eyes and looked up at Erik's face as he was leaning over Charles. Not thinking twice, Charles reached up with his free hand, cupping Erik's face, rubbing a thumb over the stubbled cheek. Far too perfect to exist, he decided quietly.

Instead of saying anything more, Erik leaned down, paused with his lips barely touching Charles' as if he was waiting for an invitation.

Charles tilted his head back a little, pressing his lips a little firmer against Erik's and apparently that was all it took.

Erik deepened the kiss, and Charles felt like he was getting a little lost in it. While it wasn't hard and fast as it had been the previous night, it was deep and warm, and if possible it was hotter, almost incinerating. Moaning deep in his throat, Charles could feel Erik's lips forming into a smile where they covered his.

Not one to let Erik have the upper hand for too long, Charles slid his hand down from Erik's face, down over the long neck, feeling the heat of skin and the light sheen of sweat. The tight t-shirt only helped emphasizing the broad built of Erik's upper body and it was a joy to run a hand down along Erik's flank, cupping a sharp hip bone at those ridiculously narrow hips. The arse was just as damned gorgeous in the cupped palm of his hand as it had been the previous night, and although it was now clothed, Charles squeezed it appreciatively, gaining a growled response that reverberated inside his mouth, through his whole being and Charles realized he was already harder than he'd expected.

"We're in public," he tried to say against Erik's lips.

"Hush," Erik replied, only pulling back a little to slide a hand up under Charles' shirt, making him shiver with want. "I know, don't worry, we're well off the beaten track."

"In a park, Erik," Charles argued futilely, and contradicting his outrage by kneading the absolutely lovely arse he was still fondling.

"So, we might get arrested for indecency," Erik muttered.

And Charles really shouldn't consider that option hot, but he did and he could feel Erik stilling where he was by now lying halfway on top of Charles.

"You like that idea, don't you?" Erik rumbled before kissing him again, this time with a lot more pressure and a hint of teeth.

"You'll be the death of me," Charles managed to get out, and when Erik let go of his hand to put a hand on either side of Charles' head, he didn’t even think twice before slipping his freed hand down to cup the neglected arse cheek.

"More like you'll be mine," Erik mumbled before kissing him again.

Apparently making out like a couple of teenagers was a bit of a turn on for Charles that he hadn't even known about. At least Erik didn't take it any further than this, because as much as Charles was enjoying himself, he wasn't sure he wanted to spend some of his vacation time trying to explain to the local authorities why he was making out with a guy in the middle of a public park.

Before things could get too heated, Charles arched his back without thinking about it and was immediately punished by a spasm of pain shooting through it, all the way up to the top if his shoulders.

Apparently Erik could tell the difference between his whimpers of arousal and his whimpers of pain, because he levered himself up from Charles, staring down at him with bruised lips and dilated eyes, an expression of worry on his face.

"It's okay, just a spasm, just-" Charles breathed shallowly. "Just need to sit up for a moment."

Erik gave him enough room to do so, even supported him until he found the right angle for his lower spine to stop shooting pain into his skull.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Erik asked, reaching for the bag, but not taking his eyes of Charles at any point.

"Yeah, just got a little ...carried away," Charles admitted, flushing with embarrassment.

Erik grinned at him. "I'll take that as a compliment," he said, "but let's take it easy - I'm well aware that the uneven ground of a grassy field is not the same as a mattress in the hotel."

Charles sniggered. "No, can't say that it is, but I'm glad you took me here regardless."

Erik nodded, shifting to sit more comfortably next to Charles, who didn't miss the bulge in his trousers.

Following his eyes, Erik grinned. "We'll continue that when we get back to the hotel," he promised. "I'll even let you unwrap it."

"If you can handle it that long without poking anyone's eye out," Charles replied cheekily, a little surprised at how Erik seemed to bring this side out in him.

"I'm a fan of delayed gratification," Erik said, voice dropping a note.

Charles coughed.

"Sorry," Erik said, not looking sorry at all as he handed Charles a bottle of water. 

Charles watched in awe as Erik unearthed a container of grapes and another with a couple of oranges in it.

"So," Erik said, twisting around to lie with his head in Charles' lap, "Tell me what you'd like to do while you're visiting Genosha."

"While feeding you grapes?" Charles asked incredulously, though he shifted lightly to accommodate Erik's new position. He couldn't get over how at ease Erik seemed to be around him and it only made it ache all the more to know that he'd have this for a limited time only.

"If your back was up to it, I'd suggest trading places," Erik said, grinning at him upside down, eyes crinkling at the corners. "And I'd feed you grapes, quite happily." 

Charles shook his head and grinned. "Well, put that way, I guess I can't complain." He took a grape and popped it between Erik's lips, meaning for it to be a quick move, but of course he got sidetracked by the firmness of Erik's narrow lips, the curve of his cupid's bow and the damned stubble that was to blame for a couple of itchy, red patches on his body where Erik had gotten a little overenthusiastic last night.

"It's going to be so amazing when we get back to the hotel," Erik mumbled, his pupils dilating again, obviously enjoying the attention.

"Show me the old city?" Charles asked, trying to drag his own mind out of the gutter.

Erik smirked up at him, obviously not fooled at all. "We can't get into the city itself. It's long since been taken over by nature. But there's a part of the old road that runs above it, we could drive up there in something with sufficient traction and you can get a good look at it."

Charles nodded. "Just driving would be lovely too," he said, his mind supplying him with Erik bending him over the hood of a car in the middle of the jungle. Obviously Erik was a terrible influence on him.

"We can make out like teenagers in the car where no one can see us," Erik said, voice rough.

Charles popped another grape into his mouth to shut him up, feeling a little jolt of arousal as Erik nipped at the tip of his fingers, then slipping the tip of his tongue over it as apology.

"We'd have to actually get out of bed tomorrow to do that," Charles said, barely recognizing his own voice.

"So, early to bed tonight," Erik said innocently.

Charles reached down and pinched a nipple through the t-shirt in retaliation. "Everything becomes a metaphor for sex with you, doesn't it?" he asked. A rhetorical question if there ever was one.

"Not a complaint, I'm sure," Erik said lazily.

Charles shook his head. "No, not at all."

"So, family of choice is sometimes better than one of blood," Erik mused. "What else can we agree on?"

Charles cocked his head to the side, looking down at Erik. "Are you angling for serious life changing stuff, politics and so on?" he asked curious. "Or to see if we can agree on how we like our coffees and what we do for fun."

Erik laughed, the vibrations sending a pleasant warmth through Charles' body. "Politics might be a bit too heavy - and it's too close to what I tend to discuss with others - I'd like something less explosive with you."

"So you don't want to compare our views on the world?" Charles asked. Not that he wanted to have some loaded, possibly volatile conversation (which politics tended to get with everyone), but Erik didn't strike him as someone who really cared about that.

"At some point," Erik said, opening his eyes and looking up at Charles. "If you want we can tackle the heavy questions tonight, at dinner?"

Charles raised an eyebrow. He'd barely set foot on Genosha and he'd run into Erik and now it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to just... spend all his time with him.

"I know a lovely little place that I think you'll like." Erik stared up at him, expectantly.

"I'd love to go with you," Charles said, before even trying to stop himself.

The answering grin was more than reward enough.

"We already share a deep need of caffeine in the morning, I've noticed," Erik started. "Even if you'll be eternally British and take yours as tea."

Charles was startled into a laugh. He hadn't actually expected Erik to start comparing them like this.

"I don't need it so much as I like the feelings associated with it," Charles said, trying to put into words why he liked to start his mornings the way he did.

"You're not a morning person, huh?" Erik asked, and considering that Erik had so far woken before him when they'd slept together, Charles couldn't really argue.

"Not so much of a morning person as such," Charles admitted. "I don't mind getting up early, I just need more time to fully wake up. I can roll out of bed and start the day, but I prefer just getting up, getting a cup of tea and just enjoying it. It's the heat coming through the cup, it's the steam rising from it and the undertones of whatever leaves have gone into making it."

Erik grinned. "Tea snob?"

"I can drink yellow label if I have to - I still get the heat and feeling of comfort, but the taste does leave something to wish for," Charles said, grinning.

"I think I feel the same way about that," Erik agreed. "Though if you ask Emma, she'll tell you I'm a bear before my first cup of coffee."

Charles shook his head. "I've seen you pre coffee a couple of times now, you're not a bear."

"That, I think, can be put down to the company I've been waking up in," Erik said with a wink before closing his eyes and taking a deep relaxing breath.

Charles was glad that Erik had his eyes closed, because that way at least he wasn't witnessing the flash flushing of Charles' face. He was far too old to be reacting this way, but Erik seemed to seep in through all his defences and Charles wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.

"Education?" Erik asked.

"Huh?" Charles felt himself pulled out of his confusing thoughts.

"You do have one, I'm sure?" Erik teased, looking up at him.

Charles nodded. Now he just had to be careful to not let Erik know how he was connected to the name Xavier.

"Genetics," he said quietly. "I teach genetics at Cardiff University - spent some time doing the same in Oxford after finishing my Ph.D."

Erik stared up at him. "Brainy," he said with a wink.

Charles rolled his eyes. "I find it a fascinating field of study," he argued.

"It is," Erik agreed. "but you're young - so you must have gotten into it early to have gotten this far already."

Charles shrugged. "For a while, before I was in the accident, I didn't want to - mostly because my father was a geneticist and sometimes-" he stopped. How did he explain that Brian Xavier had mapped the mutant gene as one of the first and that he'd had tons of notes on his son's abilities? Notes that were surely part of why Stryker kept looking for him? And that initially, Charles had been so fed up with being his father's main field of study that he'd ended up hating genetics? "Sometimes kids just want to be anything but what their parents work with, I guess," he finished lamely.

Erik frowned up at him.

"My father did love me, but was a scientist and prone to getting caught up in his research - I have no doubt he cared about me, but he was shite at showing it," Charles admitted. That much was the truth.

"So why did you up in the same field of research?" Erik asked curiously.

Charles shrugged. "There were probably two things that set it off or at least enabled it. Maybe three. I probably deep down always had the interest - thanks to my father, then there was meeting Raven, whose mutation is physical as in she has blue skin and that after the accident, I had too much time that I spent in and out of hospital beds - reading and studying seemed like a good way to fill my time."

Erik reached up and brushed a finger down along Charles' cheek. "Self study?" he asked shrewdly.

Charles grinned a little. "Yeah, had a couple of year's worth of studies to catch up in a few related fields, so I did that, went to Oxford to get my degree." And to hide from anyone who might recognize him - and from Stryker's searches that had come a little too close to comfort. "Stayed there for a while, then went to Edinburgh for two semesters, then Cardiff where I'm currently tenured."

"I'm impressed," Erik said, a calculating gleam to his eyes.

Charles raised an eyebrow. "What are you contemplating?" he asked, partly curious, partly worried.

"If we _can_ poach you from Cardiff and further Genosha's educational level," Erik replied, his tone of voice more businesslike than anything Charles had ever heard.

Charles shook his head. Not for the first time he wondered what exactly it was that Erik did for a job. Apparently he knew people. Of course if he'd been one of the first couple of waves of settlers on Genosha, Charles figured it would get him a certain amount of prerogatives.

"I never got much of an actual, real education," Erik shared and Charles let out a small sigh in relief. The more Erik focused on him, the more he knew he'd eventually screw up and give himself away.

Still, thinking that Erik might want him to stay on Genosha for purely selfish reasons and not for the sake of the island's educational system, was a thought that took root and just would not die.

"I'm a quick study, but I don't have papers or diplomas on half the shit I've done over the years," Erik admitted. "Emma made me take some online political science courses, but that's about it."

"If you were employed by the state, that makes sense," Charles agreed. "Still, I don't think there's any textbook that could have aided Genosha in her infancy."

Erik barked out a laugh. "You have no idea. For a few years it felt like there was a huge, impenetrable wall built around Genosha," Erik said quietly. "Very little got in or out. The embargoes were in place and the world was watching us with wary eyes and a hand on the gun."

Charles nodded. "It can't have been easy."

"It wasn't," Erik agreed, lips thin, pressed together. "And if it hadn't been for Atlantis breaking the embargo, I don't think we'd be here today."

Grinning, Charles agreed. "I remember the fallout from that. And I was in the UK at that point, so it wasn't half as bad as it must have been in the States."

Erik shook his head. "Europe was pretty neutral when Namor decided to fuck with the world order and trade with us, Russia as well, while China implemented new military weapons, a show of arms that was, thankfully never deployed."

"I don't recall much of how Africa reacted," Charles asked curiously. "They _are_ your neighbours."

Erik nodded. "A few of the countries had already warned us that they didn't like us off their coast, but that was about it, the rest kept pretty neutral." He snorted. "And then it all went so damned fast when we took out one of the Somali pirate ships that slipped across our border in an attempt to escape one of the Operation Ocean Shield ships, the Esbern Snare."

"You seem to know a lot about that," Charles said curiously.

Erik hesitated. "Yeah, I was part of the ...delegation that had to sit for hours and hours - or rather days, negotiating with the crew of the Esbern Snare - or rather, the NATO representatives behind the deployment. We didn't want the pirates and that was actually the biggest bone of discontent between us," Erik said with a laugh. "We wanted to dump them in NATO's lap - I almost felt sorry for the crew of the ship - they were obviously grateful that we'd intervened and stopped the pirate ship, but the NATO pen pushers didn't make it any easier for any of us in the end."

"I remember reading the suggestions from the US about taking out Genosha because it had been a show of power," Charles said, dredging up the memory. He might have been busy studying, but anything involving mutant rights had his interest, and Raven tended to email him a ton of information whenever she found something of interest.

"If it hadn't been a family member of a European politician on board the boarded ship, I don't think history would have taken the turn it did," Erik said with a sigh. "I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I think we all knew that it had been a great big amount of luck involved in that."

"Luck, fate," Charles said, nodding. "But you're all here now and Genosha is rising on her own."

Erik nodded. "I may just be a cranky old fatalist, but I'm hoping nothing will blow over this house of cards of ours."

Charles patted his shoulder, chancing the twinge in his back and leaned his head down to give Erik a slow kiss. "Then you'll rise again," he said, feeling odd about feeling so damned sure. He was so impressed with what these people had managed in such a short time.

Before he knew it, Erik had moved from his prone position to pushing Charles down onto his back. "This okay?" he breathed against Charles' mouth.

"For a little while," Charles agreed, all thoughts of history and troubles fleeing his mind.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

The only fly in Erik's ointment that day, was when he swung by his hotel room to pick up a change of clothes for the dinner that he was looking forward to more than he thought might be healthy.

He was halfway through the door of his hotel room when he realized something was off.

It wasn't that he'd spent a lot of time in there, especially not since he'd gotten to know Charles, but there was a… strange off feeling about it. As if his memory of metal was slightly skewed from what he'd expected. It wasn't that he went around memorizing everything's placement, but… Erik slowly grabbed the clothes bag with the black suit and hit speed-dial for Logan.

"I don't want to be paranoid," Erik began.

_"Not paranoid, boss - a healthy wish to survive's more like it."_

Erik shook his head. "I think someone's gone through my room. It feels…" he hesitated. "If feels off."

Logan was uncharacteristically quiet at the other end for a moment. _"Make sure I can get in when I get there. You gonna be there?"_

Erik hesitated.

 _"I work better when you're not looming over my shoulder,"_ Logan rumbled.

Erik rolled his eyes as he slowed before reaching Charles' door. "I have dinner plans tonight and intend to keep those," Erik said. "But I'll have the phone with me, call me if you find anything."

He took Logan hanging up on him as agreement. Something definitely felt off about the room. Hopefully Logan wouldn't think he was crazy and he'd find something that would support Erik's ...instincts.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"So, my thesis advisor didn't agree with my chosen project and dropped me like a hot potato," Charles explained, gesturing with his fork.

Erik grinned and for the nth time that day, he caught himself wondering how he'd gone this far with Charles in such a short time. And how much he hadn't been joking about poaching Charles for Genosha, though for far more personal gain than simply for the sake of his country.

"So, it got a bit delayed until I found another and also did a little soul searching, realizing that my attitude actually was rather rude," Charles finished his story.

Erik shook his head. "Mistakes are made to be learned from," he agreed. "As you've already said that you're tenured, I take it the work paid off?"

Charles nodded. "In more ways than one - it was a humbling experience. Raven can tell you that I wasn't a nice person during that time of my life. I was still in pain, still bitter at mostly having to use a wheelchair."

Erik gave him an appreciative once over. "You obviously got over that as well."

Shrugging, Charles took another bite of his steak and the look on his face was a compliment to the kitchen, no doubt about it. "It took time," he admitted, "and for a while there I did blame everyone and everything, mostly Hellfire for attacking New York and having a battle in the middle of the city."

Erik felt the jolt in the pit of his stomach, the urge to say 'I'm sorry' for what had happened. Before he could say anything, though, Charles shook his head.

"I've since admitted to myself that running into a building that close to the battle, was maybe not the smartest idea. And I know that the combined forces of Shaw's people was exactly what stopped him. It was probably what stopped New York from becoming a hole in the ground."

Erik took a deep breath. He'd been the main one to face down Shaw and the insanities that Shaw had sprouted in his monologue had been chilling. A nuclear war would have come the closest. On that would have left a vastly different world. "Shaw was a maniac," Erik settled on. If he kept sharing shit with Charles at random, he might as well tell him the truth and he didn't want to change the status quo.

"Obviously," Charles agreed. "I read some of the interviews that were done with Magneto when Genosha was first founded," he continued. "I still don't know why he hides behind his hood, but I remember the sincerity of the claims. That the inner circle of Hellfire had finally realized how crazy Shaw'd been and how much they weren't going to gain what they wanted through Shaw's means."

"Shaw's means," Erik agreed, "would have completely wiped out the humans."

"And most of the mutants as well," Charles said, taking a sip of his wine.

Erik grinned. "Yeah, that was kind of the final straw - Hellfire realized that Shaw and very few others would be the only ones surviving - eventually I don't think enough would have survived to bring the species forward."

"If he'd had his way, probably not," Charles agreed. "And the earth itself would have been contaminated - survival was very much not in the cards."

"As for why we keep ...Magneto's identity secret," Erik perversely said, "initially it was because we needed a figurehead that would gather people, and eventually it just… became the safer option for no one to know."

"Must be lonely," Charles muttered.

Erik took a deep breath. 'You have no idea.' "There are people who are in the know," he said, knowing it was a stupid conversation to chase.

"Do you know him?" Charles asked curiously. He then grinned, dipping his head and Erik was arrested by the lovely sweep of thick, dark eyelashes hiding Charles' eyes from view.

"Don't tell me you're angling for a meeting?" Erik snorted, hiding his reaction taking a sip of his wine.

"Probably more my sister's idea of a good time," Charles admitted. "She's a huge fan, though she's intelligent, so if they ever were to meet, I'm pretty sure she'd keep up her end of the conversation quite easily."

Erik found he almost wanted to enable that. If it would make Charles smile that way. "But you're not," Erik said. If Charles ever were to find out-

"Oh!" Charles shrugged. "I wouldn't say fan," he admitted, but shook his head. "It's hard to say for sure, as a.) I haven't met him and b.) I don't keep up with current politics as well as my sister does."

Erik smiled softly. "It's okay not to like Magneto. Some days _I_ don't either," he confided with a wink.

Charles grinned and bit his lower lip and Erik got the most indecent images flickering through his mind.

"Are you even allowed to say that as a Genoshan?" he asked curiously.

"We're not that strict," Erik said, sobering somewhat. "Genosha, while a bit of an accidental creation, prides itself of being more open minded than the rest of the world."

Charles nodded. "I know, I mean, you could have easily gone down the road of segregation, not allowing humans on the island at all."

"That would seem stupid," Erik agreed, "as we've already proved Xavier's claims that humans foster mutants and mutants foster humans. It's not like two mutants can be sure that their offspring will be a mutant."

Charles had the most peculiar look on his face, but it was gone before Erik could put his finger on what that had been about.

"But numbers have been going up," Charles said quietly. "And the rest of the world is looking at those numbers as well."

"I think part of what we do here," Erik mused, and this was something he'd occasionally given thought, but never spoken to anyone about, not even Emma. "Part of Genosha's legacy, is normalizing the view on mutants as part of mankind and not something to be feared. Some of us are weapons of mass destruction, but that's no different from a country taking arms and invading someone else's border, I guess."

Charles nodded. "If only everyone saw it that way."

"The world will never agree on everything," Erik scoffed, "that would be impossible."

Charles laughed softly. "Yeah, but we can dream, can't we?"

"And make sure that knowledge and science stand above heresy and gossip," Erik said sternly.

"That too," Charles agreed. "The more we can inform, the less we seem like the monsters under the bed."

"I'll drink to that," Erik said, fighting his smile as he held his wine glass forward.

"As will I," Charles agreed, tipping his own glass to let it touch Erik's.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"Dance with me," Erik said, reaching for Charles' hand.

"No, I don't dance," Charles said with a laugh, avoiding Erik's attempt at catching him.

The main square of the city had been transformed into a lovely nighttime extravaganza of café tables around the edges and an open area in the middle where strings of coloured lamps lit up like a ceiling of light.

The soft tones of one of the local musicians filled the air and Erik, who had most definitely never had the urge to drag someone on to a dance floor, wanted nothing more than to do this to Charles.

"Unless of course you're too tired and sore?" he amended, realizing that he'd been dragging Charles all over the place during the morning and afternoon - only splitting up to get ready for dinner. And while Charles looked warm and a little tired, he still looked absolutely magnificent in the suit he'd put on for their dinner.

"No, I'm good," Charles assured him. "But I've got two left feet."

"That's okay," Erik said with a laugh. "According to Emma I have two right feet so maybe together we can make it work?" Erik was very well aware that his high mood was partly due to the damned fine bottle of wine that they had consumed with dinner, but also; something about Charles brought this out in him. A carefreeness that Erik was unfamiliar with.

Charles groaned and laughed at him. "That was so cheesy, my friend."

"Was that a yes?" Erik asked, stepping in close and sweeping Charles along. "That was a yes," he continued, leading Charles into a slow, intimate dance that involved more swaying than actually dancing.

Charles hooked his cane onto his arm and slid the other hand up to rest on Erik's shoulder. "You're a horrible enabler," he scolded Erik, though there was very little heat in his words.

"You're enjoying yourself," Erik argued, seeing the obvious pleasure on Charles' face. "Admit it."

Charles laughed and scrunched up his nose. "It's a possibility," he hedged.

"Don't make me tickle it out of you when we get back to the hotel room," Erik warned him, and at the same time as he noticed that Charles eyes darkened, he realized that he'd more or less sunk to the point where everything became a metaphor for sex.

The noise that Charles made was pretty much an indicator of how much they were on the same level, and Erik hadn't been kidding when he'd said that he liked delayed gratification. While part of him wanted to whisk Charles back to their hotel, he knew that the sweet build-up would be so much worth it.

A whistling noise reached his ear at the same time as he stumbled and Erik laughed, not quite able to help himself. Obviously the wine was messing with him. He put his arms tightly around Charles and the two of them shuffled on the dance floor, the night's chill kept at bay by lights and the fact that they were as closely wrapped up in each other as they were.

"Did you hear something?" he asked curiously, but Charles shook his head. "Nope."

"Okay," Erik agreed, zeroing in on Charles' mouth again, leaning in to kiss him, softly at first, then with intent.

"Erik," Charles said quietly, putting a hand on his chest and keeping him at bay. "If you carry on like this, everyone here will get an eyeful."

Grinning, Erik nodded. "Sorry about that," he said, completely insincere.

"Bastard," Charles muttered goodnaturedly as he put his head on Erik's shoulder, letting him guide them slowly around the floor.

Erik didn't miss some of the indulgent looks they were getting, but at least they weren't the only couples shuffling around, completely caught up in each other. Before he could return his attention to Charles, though, Erik caught sight of Logan, who was watching him with a frown. Raising an eyebrow, he got a shake of the head in return. Wondering what that had been about, he warred with himself for a moment, wanting to go to the other man.

"I need the bathroom," Charles muttered against his neck.

Erik pulled back and smiled at him. "There's one in the cafe," he said, pointing in that direction. "I'll get us something to drink?" he offered, already planning to go to Logan to see what the heck that look had been about.

"Sounds lovely," Charles agreed, reluctantly letting go of Erik, which made him feel warm all over.

With Charles heading off for the cafe, Erik unerringly steering towards Logan. He might be out of sight, but Erik had no trouble tracking his metal skeleton.

"What was that look about?" Erik asked quietly when he caught up with him, a narrow street leading from the plaza towards the main government building.

"You make a cute couple," Logan teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Logan-" Erik was rarely fond of dealing with Logan's brand of humor.

"I checked your hotel room like you asked," he replied. "No prints, no scents. And that's pretty impressive, because I'm with you on that one, someone had been in there." He paused. "There was, however, a bug hidden under the bedside table."

"Good thing I've been spending my days and nights elsewhere," Erik muttered. "Unless-"

"I'll check, if you want me to," Logan said. "Though I take it you haven't told him any state secrets that anyone might overhear."

Erik glared at him.

"Didn't think so," Logan said. "And meeting with Emma?"

"One meeting with her in my hotel room, but the question is if that was before or after the bug had been placed," Erik mused.

"Anything important being said?" 

Erik shrugged. "Not that I can remember."

"I'll check the kid's room for bugs," Logan said. "Just... give me about half an hour before you give into those big blue eyes and come back for a roll in the hay."

Erik tugged on the metal of Logan's skeleton in warning, but the man merely laughed at him. "And... it might be nothing," Logan said as he turned to look at Erik again. "I could have sworn I heard a weird whistling noise a moment ago - like a projectile, but I can't smell anything and you obviously didn't react to it either, so maybe I'm getting old." With that he departed and Erik stared after him, more than a little worried.

Returning to the plaza, Erik was relieved to find that Charles wasn't there yet. It allowed him to pick up the two glasses of sparkling cider and bring it over to a small table to wait - one that enabled him to sit with his back to the wall, keeping an eye on the plaza itself. It would be nice to say it was simply so he could see Charles when he came back, but with what had been happening and Logan's departing words, Erik's finely honed paranoia reared its head.

A few minutes later, he saw Charles come out of the cafe, look around and light up when he spotted Erik. It was obvious to Erik that Charles' limp was more pronounced and he decided they could damned well stay seated for a bit now.

Sitting down next to him, Charles accepted the glass of cider and took a sip of it, making an appreciative noise.

"It's a Genoshan speciality," Erik explained, watching him as he sipped his own.

"It's lovely," Charles replied, rewarding Erik with a wide grin.

"You're limping a little more," Erik said, "tell me if you want to call it a night and head back to the hotel." They would take their time getting back anyway, so Logan would have enough time.

Charles shook his head. "Just- no more dancing right now, okay?" he pleaded.

Erik grinned and conceded. "No more dancing - for now."

Charles sipped his cider and nodded in time to the music. "I really like how crowded the city can seem, and yet there are these little parties taking place," he said.

"We get quite a bit of rain in a month or so," Erik explained, "we tend to take advantage of the weather being as it is right now."

Charles nodded. "It makes sense, I guess," he said.

"As for these little parties," Erik said, gesturing around the plaza. "The main plaza here tends to be lit up every night when it's tourist season," he admitted. In the beginning, when people had suddenly expressed an interest in visiting Genosha as a tourist destination, Erik had been confused and very much against it. They were a young country still struggling with a lot on the political scene, what use did they have of tourists, getting in the way and being ignorant?

Of course Emma had set him straight on that one. Money, apparently, was the lubricant needed to make the world go around - including Genosha if they wanted their country to grow and prosper.

"I like it," Charles said, leaning back in his seat with a wince. "It's very soothing."

"You should come during the carnival," Erik said, rolling his eyes. He liked the intimacy of the smaller gatherings like this one - carnival was something entirely different.

Charles laughed. "I think I've read about it. It's supposed to be something to behold."

"What most don't know," Erik confided in him, not entirely sure why he was so ready to share these less known tidbits with Charles. "Is that the first carnival was staged during one of the meetings of Genosha and the rest of the world right after the EU removed their embargos, and was meant as a red flag waved in the face of the US. However, it was so elaborate that the heads of state were so impressed they told everyone far and wide about it and when we became a favoured tourist destination shortly after, it was what people mostly asked about - and we had to make it an annual happening."

Charles threw his head back, laughing. "Oh, dear, so you had to keep doing it because people asked for it?"

"It sort of started like that," Erik said, not able to fight the smile forming on his face. "But eventually it became something everyone looks forward to."

"I'd love to see it," Charles admitted, leaning in over the table.

"And I'd love to show you," Erik said, quietly. 'If you'll stay,' he added silently. 

Someone jostled his chair and Erik was torn out of the moment, clearing his throat as he met Charles' eyes, both of them more than a little flustered.

"Want to go back to the hotel?" Erik asked, not quite managing the nonchalance he'd been aiming for.

They nearly fell through the door of Charles' room, slightly tipsy and more than a little reluctant to let go of each other. Erik managed to check for Logan's metal signature, but he seemed to have been and gone in the meantime.

Managing to slam the door shut behind them, Erik pushed Charles up against the flat surface of it, pinning him in place and proceeding to kiss him until he was clinging to Erik and obviously even less secure on his feet.

Erik had to admit that he was continuously surprised by how at ease he felt around Charles, how much he enjoyed the time they were spending together. 

"Bed," he muttered, steering a limp Charles in the right direction. Damn it, but he was getting in so deep by now that he could hardly see any light. Not that he really wanted to.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	7. Chapter 7

Charles winced as he pulled his shirt off. And of course it didn't go unnoticed.

"You okay?" Erik asked, catching the shirt when Charles swayed a bit and dropped it.

"I might have overdone the walking and dancing," Charles admitted with a small laugh. And he had, and he should have known better, but he'd been having such a great time, enjoying what they'd been doing, not to mention the company. He was going to miss Erik if this was all he was going to see of him, a week or two at a holiday resort.

"Are you in pain?" Erik ran a hand carefully down his spine.

The touch made Charles shiver, though not at all from fatigue, pain or cold. The touch was more intimate than much of what he'd experienced through the past many years, not to mention gentle and caring in a way he might not have expected from Erik when they'd first met.

"I'll take a couple of painkillers," Charles said with a sigh, leaning into the touch, enjoying the heat from Erik's palm where he was resting his hand on the lower back. Right over the spot that Charles knew was going to either wake him up during the night or make it next to impossible to get out of bed in the morning.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Can I keep you? Charles thought to himself, only partly joking, he realized. Normally the only one who cared much about his health was Raven, and she wasn't around to really show it very often.

Which might be a good thing as Charles was fairly sure it would become suffocating after a while. For now at least he wasn't getting anything like that from Erik's attention. On the contrary, it was nice and the fact that Erik touched him freely without even commenting on scars or damage, well, was it such a surprise that Charles had taken a shine to him?

It was possible Charles might have zoned out for a moment, because Erik apparently took this as a suggestion to take things into his own hands. He gently guided Charles to the bed, took the rest of his clothes off and urged him to lie down.

"I take it you've got something we could use for massage; oil or lotion?" Erik asked, and surprisingly there was nothing suggestive about the offer.

Charles sighed and let himself sink into the bed, head resting on his folded arms. "There is a tube in my toiletries in the bathroom. It's got some herbal stuff in it that heats the skin and tissue, so don't get any alternative ideas for using it," Charles muttered with a small laugh.

Erik pinched his arse and Charles jolted a bit, wincing at the twinge in his lower back. "Don't get cheeky, Charles - we can do this without having sex - it can be about your comfort and wellbeing."

Oh, he definitely wanted to keep Erik after this. How ridiculous it might sound, as a grown man, Charles was really beginning to see what he might miss if he and Erik parted ways without ever meeting again. He was no less thankful for Erik's presence when he detoured from the bathroom with a glass of water and both the pill bottles with Charles' painkillers. Charles busied himself with washing the one down that would make him the least fuzzy. He wanted to dull the pain, but the other one really was only for emergency use.

He lay back down on the bed and tried to tell himself that wishful thinking would get him nowhere and the sooner he accepted that this was a limited time, the less of a heartache it would be when it was over. And Charles realized, much to his surprise, that yes, it would feel like a loss when he left again. Even if he ended up needing to flee to Genosha for his own safety, there were no guarantees that he would be granted citizenship or that Erik would want to see him beyond this ...fling.

All those things were probably supposed to be something he should be thinking about, but he quite forgot it all, when Erik straddled his thighs and carefully began working on his muscles, the herbal scent of the lotion permeating the air. Long , strong fingers dug into his sore muscles, loosening them slowly, but surely.

Charles had almost drifted off when Erik leaned down and put his mouth next to Charles' ear. "Let me know if it's too much, okay?"

"Hmmm?" Charles could barely concentrate on the words, far too caught up on enjoying the feel of being touched with such intent and focus.

Erik chuckled, the sound and vibration making Charles shiver. "I said, do let me know if it's too much, but I'll take the blissed out look on your face as confirmation that you're enjoying it?"

Charles grinned into his crossed arms. "You might say that," he mumbled. He winced a little when Erik hit a knot at the base of his spine. Erik, in reaction, let up some of the pressure, applied more of the lotion and went to work on it.

"I want to ask you something, Charles, but I'm not sure how to do so without overstepping your boundaries."

Charles opened his eyes and stared at the curve of the pillow under his arms. "And what would that be?" he asked cautiously.

"I know that you suppress your abilities," Erik said slowly, rubbing his thumb along the swell of Charles' arse. "Fuck, there's no PC way of asking this," he suddenly said with a laugh.

Charles turned his head a little. "What is it you're trying to ask?"

"I could," Erik mumbled, leaning down and pressing his lips against the skin between Charles' shoulderblades. "I could say that 'people say that the brain is the largest sexual organ in the human body', but what I really just want to say is… I'm curious, and I wouldn't mind if you touched my mind when we're in bed - just… sharing?"

The last was added with a strange tone of insecurity. Not something Charles had expected to hear in Erik's voice at any point. And what he was asking… "Are you sure you know what you're asking for?"

Erik nuzzled his warm skin and Charles squirmed a little. Even with the focus being on loosening up his muscles, which Erik had done carefully but efficiently, Charles found himself… not uncomfortably hard. He was quite sure that Erik wouldn't leave him hanging but what he was suggesting...

"Just how you feel," Erik mumbled, flattening his hands and running them down Charles' sides, causing him to gasp, the skin almost feeling electrified. "Am I right in thinking it doesn't take probing as deeply for emotions as it does for actual thoughts?"

Charles sighed and closed his eyes. He'd been wary of using his powers since New York for more reasons than just having overstretched them. Considering that people tended to react negatively when he mentioned them, Erik's actions and requests were… not something he was used to dealing with.

He wasn't even sure how it made him feel. Depending on why Erik was so curious. He had to admit he was tempted, so very much. "You want me to lower my shields and let you feel what I'm feeling when we have sex?"

Erik stilled for a moment, then continued to sweep those damnably large hands over his body, making him shiver. "I wanted to do it right now, without actually having sex, and… I sort of wanted it to go both ways?" He sounded more than a little unsure now.

No you don't, Charles thought to himself. You don't want me in your head. Closing his eyes he drew a deep breath. "You don't want me in your head," he repeated out loud. Because no one ever did. Not that Charles had tried for years - he's long since put that behind him. Youthful indiscretions and all.

"I'm not sure why you'd think I'd only want to feel your side of it - unless of course you don't want it to go both ways," Erik mumbled. "It was just a question. A stupid one."

"No…" Charles found himself speaking up. He warred with himself. He wanted to turn around and look Erik in the eyes, but on the other hand he felt it easier to speak to Erik like this. "Please, I've never had this conversation with anyone, so please, give me a moment to…" He stopped. "A moment to think." He lay quiet for a few seconds, then decided to just go for it. "Why would you be curious about it?" he asked.

"Remember I told you? I have a friend who's a telepath - she's mentioned it once or twice and… I guess I figured you were in enough control to try it as well." Erik was quiet for a moment. "Emma's not one to kiss and tell, but I know for a fact that the few times she _has_ mentioned a mental connection during sex, it's been with a ...longing in her voice, if that makes sense."

Charles bit his lower lip. It did, because he couldn't imagine everyone being open to sharing something as intimate as their mind during sex. When all defences were down, all emotions on display. Tentatively he made a small hole in his defences, sending out a few tendrils of emotions - mainly how much he was enjoying Erik's attention. He was rewarded with a gasp from above him, and a slow lazy roll of Erik's hips that boosted their current position from comfortable to hot as hell in a split second with Erik's erection rubbing along the swell of Charles' arse.

"Oh, that's…" Erik's voice was distant but full of wonder.

Much to Charles' surprise, it seemed Erik was enjoying himself. Even though he knew he was going to regret it, he opened up a little more, surprised when Erik carefully lay down on top of him, covering his whole body - slowly and carefully rolling his hips to rub his cock against the cleft of Charles' arse. Even through the boxers, Charles could feel the heat of him.

"T-tell me if I get too heavy," Erik said breathlessly against Charles' neck. "Can you feel what you're doing to me?" he gasped.

For a moment, Charles lay still, mind flooded with worry. What he was doing? He wasn't... he wasn't influencing...?

For a moment, Erik didn't seem to notice, then he stuttered to a halt. Apparently he'd noticed that Charles had stopped enjoying himself. "What is it?" he asked, worry thick in his voice as he scrambled to get off Charles.

Charles would have been happy to bury his burning face in the pillow, but Erik apparently had other ideas, as he gently, but insistently, turned Charles over onto his back, pulling him up into a seated position.

Erik huffed out a breath, settling himself down in front of Charles, a serious expression on his face. "We obviously need to talk."

Here it comes, Charles thought to himself. His consternation must have shown on his face, because Erik reached out and tilted his head up to force him to meet his eyes.

"Don't make that face," he said sternly. "You have to admit that I'm apparently tripping invisible wires here."

Charles bit his lower lip for a moment, using the sting to ground himself. "It's just… I very rarely have ...sexual encounters of any kind. I'm not a virgin, but I tend to date first - and dates very rarely go beyond the actual _date_ once they…"

"Once they learn you're a telepath," Erik finished for him, not even phrasing it as a question.

Charles nodded. "And you can guess how far I get with the ones who aren't scared away by that," he muttered, self consciously running a hand down over some of his scars. Just the thought seemed to make the skin itch.

Erik gave him a shrewd look. "So, am I correct in thinking I'm the first one to ever ask you to use your gift during sex?"

"I don't think anyone's ever asked me to use it for fun, period," Charles muttered under his breath. He didn't really want to say that loud enough to be heard.

"What was that?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Charles squirmed but eventually repeated his words. He was more than a little surprised by Erik's reaction, though.

"The fucking idiots, you have a gift, you should have been encouraged to learn and grow with it," Erik swore.

A startled laugh escaped Charles. He couldn't keep from reaching out and touching Erik's face, cupping the side of Erik's head. Can I keep you? he thought to himself again, knowing that he'd never voice that request. But a man could dream.

Erik lay down next to him, pulling Charles along with him, rearranging him to lie on top of Erik. "Let's do this in a way that will work for you," he said softly, his expression softening. Reaching up, he brushed a lock of hair away from Charles' forehead. It stubbornly flopped back down. "Go on, go to town, I'm all yours," he said quietly. "One condition, though," he continued, holding up a hand. "I get the feeling you only let it go one way before, so promise me you'll let it go both ways this time - my shielding is good - you won't get into the deeper thoughts," he promised.

Incapable of stopping himself, Charles leaned down to press his lips chastely against Erik's, doing his level best not to show Erik just how much of an impact this was having on him. The fierce look of approval on Erik's face told him that he was probably failing spectacularly.

"I'll try," Charles finally agreed.

"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try," Erik said seriously.

"Do not," Charles started, then much to his own surprise, he couldn't stop laughing as he slumped down on top of Erik. "You're not allowed to quote Star Wars at me, Erik."

"Why not?" Erik asked with a laugh, running his hands along Charles' thighs and back up.

Because every little quirk I see will make it harder for me to part, Charles didn't say. "Dork," Charles settled for muttering, allowing himself a slow kiss, focusing on Erik's hands where he was touching Charles, roaming up and down his arms, his back, his neck, his arse. At the same time he carefully felt his way through his barriers, almost having to fight to take the down enough to allow his conscience to touch Erik's. He barely had to dip under the surface before he could feel Erik's emotions. Every little action and reaction to Charles, every little surge of arousal, of protective instincts that were still aimed at Charles - much to his surprise.

 _'Keep going,'_ Erik's thoughts drifted up from the deep and Charles nearly cut the connection right there and then in surprise. But because he knew Erik would be disappointed with him, he fought the urge to do so and let his own reactions to Erik's touches slide in among Erik's; like fingers sliding between fingers when holding hands.

He kept tabs on it as he slid a thigh on either side of Erik's, His skin felt over sensitized as he rolled his hips and his returning erection rubbed against the thin garment of Erik's boxers. Somehow, even with him all but seated in Erik's lap, Erik managed to push them down and what happened to them after that, Charles really couldn't care less about.

Completely naked skin to skin made Charles gasp. Sure, they had had sex the previous night and it hadn't been bad - quite frankly, if Charles was truthful, he'd enjoyed a lot. But this? This was as if they'd been doing it blindfolded and with mittens on, because every touch, every brush of skin against skin cascaded back and forth between them, intense, satisfying and ratcheting up their arousal.

And the fact that Charles was suddenly again aware of Erik's emotions almost made him stop, but this time he caught himself, refusing to let the insecurity rule him. If Erik had an inkling of Charles' momentary worry, he didn't let on.

Erik pushed himself up into a seated position, arms tightly wound around Charles' waist. The angle made it difficult for Charles to get enough friction, but from the wave of self satisfied feelings rolling off Erik, he was fairly sure that had been the idea. The kissing was an experience as well. Sloppy and almost with a ghostly echo - kissing and being kissed over and over and over…

Charles finally broke the kiss, almost overwhelmed by his own and Erik's reactions to something so simple as making out. He was breathing hard as he leaned his forehead against Erik's, trying to catch his breath. "I never thought…" he tried to say. Not even sure how to finish that sentence.

"Don't think about it, Charles, just do - just follow your instincts and enjoy yourself."

A soft sound escaped Charles. He'd be bloody ruined for anyone else after this. He felt exhausted from the high and then sudden low and somehow it seemed Erik was catching on. It wasn't that Charles didn't want to have sex, but he wasn't sure how he'd be able to handle the full deal.

"We'll take it easy," Erik muttered, pressing small kisses to the corner of Charles' mouth. "I don't have any obligations for the rest of the night, and I think, neither do you."

Charles smiled softly. "No, you're right." He probably should call Raven at some point and check with her, but right this moment, he just wanted to see where Erik was taking them.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Erik brushed a lock of hair away from Charles' face. He'd woken up around five as he usually did, but he'd been strangely reluctant to get out of bed. That had been an hour ago and while Erik had never been the kind of person to lounge about in bed, he felt no compulsion to leave his spot next to Charles.

If confronted he wasn't even sure what he'd been doing for the past hour, apart from staring at Charles, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into and more importantly - how was he going to get out of it? And did he want to?

_'Erik.'_

Erik's head snapped up. He stared down at Charles, who slept on, curled slightly towards him.

_'Emma?'_

_'I wanted to talk to you but you weren't in your room.'_ the smirk in her mental voice was pretty damned obvious.

Erik drew a deep breath. Staring down at Charles he was actually torn between speaking with his oldest friend and just… ignoring the world and staying in bed.

 _'You don't have to leave your little play thing,'_ Emma told him, _'We can talk like this.'_

Erik sat up slowly, making sure he wouldn't wake up Charles. He walked around to Charles side where he'd seen him keeping a notebook. _'No, meet me in the restaurant in ten minutes - order me a coffee.'_

He didn't bother waiting for an answer, but simply shut her out. She was used to it.

_Charles, had to run an errand - I'll be back up as fast as I can._

Erik stared at the words. The grinned and added _don't bother getting dressed_

He might actually be fast enough to get back before Charles woke up, but if he wasn't, he didn't want Charles to think that he'd been suddenly abandoned.

A quick wash at the sink in the bathroom would have to do - and running his fingers through his hair, Erik headed down the deserted hallway of the hotel. Calling the elevator the moment he stepped out the door ensured him that it opened just as he stepped in front of it.

He wondered what Emma wanted as he shoved his hands into his pockets, staring at his own reflection in the elevator's shiny wall. It looked cloudy and distorted. The elevator pinged and the doors slid open, allowing him to exit into the front hall. Checking his phone as we walked, Erik was glad to see Logan's message of _All clear, boss._

The restaurant was pretty much deserted as well. At a holiday hotel no one apparently got up at the crack of dawn.

"I'm not sure we need our conversation overheard," Emma said as greeting, pointing at the cup of coffee on the table. "No one will enter here until I allow them."

Erik rolled his eyes. He knew that she was doing what she thought best, but the constant secrecy…

"Did you happen to notice anything strange yesterday?" she asked out of the blue, before sipping her own coffee.

"Strange?" Erik asked. He'd had a lovely day, wasn't going to lie about that.

"We've been getting some rather strange reports and I…" she trailed off. _'I think we've got a mole in our midst'_ she continued.

"Oh?" Erik put down his coffee. _'Working for who? And yes, according to Logan my room's been bugged.'_

 _'I don't know, but I intend to find out. And Logan told me about the bugs. Good thing you haven't been 'sleeping' in your own bed lately...''_ "I had some strange information yesterday, warnings from Irene, among other things."

Erik sat up straighter. Destiny was not someone to be trifled with. If she issued a warning, you best heed it.

_'There's something going on, Erik. I don't know what, but be careful - you're on your own when you're out and about in the city - maybe you should cut your vacation short.'_

Erik opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again.

"Didn't think so, Sugar," she drawled, a small smile gracing her red lips. "And how is your current fling going?"

Erik wanted to tell her 'great', that the sex was good, as was the company, but…

"Oh Erik," she said with a sigh, obviously reading him as well as she always did.

"He's just… very likable," Erik said defensively.

"I'm sure he is, Erik, but if you let yourself get in too deep…" she shook her head. "A little too late, huh?"

"You're the one who's always gone on about using telepathy when having sex," he defended himself.

"To a certain point," Emma said, "you don't do it to get more attached. You don't need that."

Erik wanted to ask 'what if we can trust him?' but didn't. Because he knew what she'd say. He'd only known Charles for a couple of days. How could he tell if he could trust him or not. "I think he's as damaged as we were," he said quietly instead.

Emma touched his hand with the tips of the fingers of one hand. "Damaged?"

"Emma, your gift is part of you, as mine is of me," Erik said, grasping for the right words. "Charles holds it all back and he constantly seems to think that using it, or sharing it, only sets him up for getting shot down."

Emma nodded. "A lot of telepaths feel that way for a reason, Erik. It's not your fault."

"I know," Erik said. "I… think I might have made a little progress regarding that last night."

"Remember what I said about getting attached," she warned. "You can't afford for him to get attached to you either.

Erik sighed and closed his eyes. "I know, but he's a fellow mutant, Emma, how could I ignore his distress?"

"You don't have any trouble ignoring people you don't like," she teased tiredly, "mutants or humans. So I guess my caution of not getting too involved comes a little too late."

Erik shrugged. "I'm not stupid, Emma, but… it'll hurt either way, so I might as well enjoy the time I can have with him."

She shook her head in mock despair. "Just be careful, Erik." _'If we do indeed have someone working against us in our own ranks...'_

Erik wanted to challenge that. They weren't supposed to have internal struggles anymore, at least nothing beyond governmental arguments and debates, but he wasn't stupid. There were factions of their government that might use less than acceptable methods to get what they wanted.

 _'What did Irene say?'_ he asked.

 _'She said that a shadow grows among us - her usual cryptic phrasing,'_ Emma explained. _'A shadow that, if not stopped, will consume us all, enslave us. She also said that you were key in our defences, that it would be personal to you.'_ Emma raised an eyebrow at him. "Make any new enemies lately?"

Erik snorted. "Not that I know of." He felt the usual need to fight whatever enemy might rise mix with the urge to stay and protect Charles. He hoped Charles wouldn't ever come across that thought, because he was pretty sure the man would take it personal. He _was_ a grown man who could take care of himself. "Maybe I should come back to the office."

Emma slowly shook her head. "No, Erik. I get the feeling that you might be needed out here - Irene wasn't all that clear."

"Just… don't hesitate to call me, okay?" Erik said. If there were indeed problems among their own, he couldn't very well be wasting his time… even if he was enjoying himself. He did have a duty to his country.

"Don't overdo it, Erik" Emma said with a smirk. "Just… I'll let you know if anything comes up, but I do think you should keep your eyes open." 

"Of course," Erik scoffed.

"You might be a bit busy sometimes," she said with a wink.

Erik glared at her, but he had trouble keeping a straight face.

"Is he nice?" she asked, obviously curious.

"He's… nothing like anyone I've been with before," Erik admitted. "He's nice, if a bit damaged."

"You wouldn't want him if he was perfect," she told him.

Erik nodded. "You're probably right. We all need our flaws."

"Amen," she said with a sigh. "I should be getting back to the office - picking up the slack."

"You've got minions for that," Erik corrected her.

Shaking her head, Emma drained her cup and stood, brushing a hand over Erik's arm. "Be careful."

Erik merely nodded. He stayed in his seat with his cup of coffee for a few minutes after she'd left. So someone might cause them problems. They rarely got warnings from Destiny, and the few times it had happened, they had learned to pay attention. She had actually been the one to point out the Somali pirates that they had stopped and through that opened diplomatic channels with the rest of the world. When she spoke up, Erik was damned if he wasn't going to pay attention, no matter how enigmatic her words might be.

Erik pulled his phone out and texted Logan. He knew Emma probably had contacted him already about this, but Erik really wanted to make sure. A moment later a text reply came back.

_I think you need to be careful, boss._

Erik stared at the text. _Any idea why?_ Erik sent back.

_Stick close to your boyfriend._

_What kind of fucking answer is that?_ Erik typed back. And was Logan indicating that Charles might be a problem?

You'd think Logan was a mind reader too, because another text follow shortly.

_Gut feeling says you can trust him._

Erik frowned. How the hell would Logan know?

_Jean says so too._

Erik rolled his eyes. If the both of them were in on it… Of course, being the head of Genosha's security, Logan did have a job to do and Erik wasn't going to make it harder for him. That would just be stupid. _I intend to take Charles sight seeing out on the old roads near Hammer Bay today._ he texted Logan.

 _How romantic,_ Logan wrote back. _I'll keep my eyes open for any trouble._

Erik sighed. Well, he couldn't really ask for more. He wanted to scoff and say that they were beyond petty differences and grand arguments, but Genosha wasn't half as safe as he wanted it to be. Not for mutants and not for humans.

Getting to his feet, Erik went to put the bill on his room number and on a whim, he swung by reception and put in an order for breakfast brought up to Charles' room. He also shot an email off to Irene while was at it. For some odd reason she'd always liked him and if she would or _could_ give him any more information, he was quite happy to ask.

The message he got back on his email while he was in the elevator on its way back up to his own floor to get a change of clothes, wasn't much help at all. It only said pretty much what Emma had relayed to him. 

He wondered for a moment about Logan's choice of words, then rolled his eyes. Erik had to wonder if Irene's cryptic ways were rubbing off on all his people. In that case he'd have to have a course in deciphering their warnings if he wanted to make sense of their work.

Erik opened Charles' door, manipulating the tumblers. He stopped in the open doorway as he heard Charles speaking, then realized he was on the phone. He'd hoped to be allowed to ogle Charles asleep a little longer, but he wasn't going to argue that finding him sitting halfway up in the bed, hair tussled and body only partly covered by the sheets was a pretty lovely sight.

As was the smile lighting up his face when he spotted Erik. For a moment Erik hesitated. He was, after all, walking in on a private conversation. Charles waved him over, patting the mattress next to him.

Erik put his phone down next to the bed and slowly crawled up to sit close to Charles. And made him shiver when Charles leaned into him and happily kept talking on the phone.

"Yeah, just let me know when you get here, okay?" Charles rolled his eyes. "Yes, I make sure to take care of myself, and yes, I eat regularly."

"I ordered breakfast to be brought up," Erik muttered into his free ear.

Charles flushed suddenly, turning his face away from Erik, but the reddening skin caught Erik's attention as it spread across neck and chest.

Erik raised an eyebrow and leaned forward to brush his lips over one naked, warm shoulder.

"Okay, bye, Raven. No, Raven. _No_ ," he repeated feverishly, then hung up, dropped the phone and all but climbed into Erik's lap.

"Sister?" Erik asked before Charles shut him up, kissing him with relish.

"Far too curious for her own good," Charles muttered, before kissing him again. Erik tasted a hint of toothpaste and figured Charles must have been up for a while already.

"Maybe she just worries about you," Erik mumbled as he willingly helped Charles straddle his lap.

"A sister shouldn't be this invested in her brother's sex life," Charles muttered, coloring again as he'd obviously not meant to say that out loud.

Erik simply grinned and winked at him. "I'd say that's an interest in your health," he said before silencing any more words.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Charles blinked awake, staring at the white ceiling of his hotel room. The spot next to him was empty, sheets cool. Closing his eyes for a moment, Charles drew a deep breath. Maybe he shouldn't get attached? Wasn't that what he'd been thinking all along? Or at least what he should have been thinking.

Turning his head to check the time on his watch that he'd left on the bedside table, he spotted his notebook opened on a page, pen on top of it. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he sat up and reached for it.

_Charles, had to run an errand - I'll be back up as fast as I can. Don't bother getting dressed._

Charles couldn't stop the smile forming on his face. Screw getting attached or not, because if Erik was coming back Charles certainly wasn't going to complain. Yawning, he slipped out of bed and padded to the bathroom, rubbing a hand down over his chest. He felt pretty disgusting and he was definitely going to have a shower - at some point. Though not until he'd woken up just a bit more. First things first and his bladder was making itself and its needs known.

Making a face at himself when he stepped over to wash his hands, Charles flushed a little at the bite marks clearly visible down the side of his neck and across his shoulder.

Damn, but sex with Erik was so much better than he'd expected and the fact that Erik didn't only encourage him to use his powers during it, but also clearly enjoyed it… Charles shook his head.

As he returned to the bedroom, his phone on the bedside table started vibrating. A quick check told him that it was Raven's number. "Hello, darling," he greeted, slipping back into the bed, not bothering with any clothes. Erik had requested, after all.

 _"You're in a disgustingly good mood this morning,"_ Raven greeted him. _"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"_

Charles laughed out loud. "Morning Raven, or should I say good evening- it must be nearly night where you are!" he realized.

 _"Came home very late from a meeting,"_ she admitted. _"I'm still not sure when I can make it over, but Charles… I've had another warning."_

Charles paled. "Raven."

_"Nothing big, Charles, but I'm pretty sure there's someone digging into your past - and possibly mine as well._

"Promise me you'll be careful," Charles said. "Raven."

 _"Of course I'm careful, you dumbass,"_ she told him. _"But I want you to be careful as well, keep an eye out."_ She was quiet for a moment. _"Can you trust your boyfriend?"_ she suddenly asked.

Charles flushed with heat again. "Hes' not my boyfriend, Raven."

 _"Well, he's not a one night stand anymore, is he, Charles?"_ she asked shrewdly.

"Vacation fling," Charles replied, not at all managing to sound as convincing as he'd been aiming for.

_"If you say so, brother dear."_

Charles shook his head and was about to tell her off when he looked up and the door swung open, allowing Erik to step inside. The sight of him having picked up clothes to bring back to Charles' hotel room warmed him more than he wanted to admit and he couldn't help the wide smile forming on his face. He patted the mattress next to him and much to his delight Erik dropped what he'd brought on a chair and climbed into bed to sit plastered against Charles' side.

Nor could he have fought the urge to lean into Erik if he'd wanted to. The heat coming off the man was incredible. The A/C chilled the room's air and Charles didn't need another excuse to leach off Erik's body heat.

Charles forced his attention back to his sister on the phone. "Yeah, just let me know when you get here, okay?" He listening for a moment to her gearing up for her usual 'take care of yourself, make sure you eat right' speech. As always it made Charles roll his eyes. "Yes, I make sure to take care of myself, and yes, I eat regularly." She could be such a worrywart at times, more of a big sister than the little one he'd adopted years back.

"I ordered breakfast to be brought up," Erik muttered into his free ear.

Charles shivered and sighed. Of course, with Erik this close, there was no way in hell Raven hadn't caught that last little part.

 _"Charles,"_ she exclaimed loudly. _"You could have told me I was interrupting your morning sex!"_

Charles felt the heat rise in his face and neck, turning his head from Erik to at least keep some of his dignity intact. For all the good it did him as he felt Erik's lips against the naked skin of his shoulder. Time to shut down his sister before it got out of hand and she'd hear more than even she would ever want to.

"Okay, bye, Raven," he said hastily.

 _"Charles, seriously, I want pictures,"_ she pressed from the other end, laughing openly at him now. _"And if you want send me a picture of his face, the least you can do is take one of his-"_

"No, Raven. _No_ ," he repeated feverishly, then hung up, dropped the phone and turned around to face Erik, swinging one leg over his thighs and pretty much sat down in his lap. 

"Sister?" Erik asked. 

Deciding that explanations could wait, Charles kissed him hard and long, enjoying the roughness of morning stubble against his face. Raven's warning; he'd have to think about, but for now, he was safe on Genosha. 

Pulling back a little he smiled at Erik's hazy look. "Far too curious for her own good," he muttered, before going back to kissing Erik again. He couldn't get enough of Erik's mouth and kissing him was an incredible experience. There was a hint of coffee in Erik's mouth and while Charles preferred tea, he chased the hints of the bitter taste. 

"Maybe she just worries about you," Erik mumbled into another kiss, while cunningly maneuvering Charles around onto his back. 

"A sister shouldn't be this invested in her brother's sex life," Charles told him with another flush coloring his cheeks. He wasn't used to talking this much with someone where it didn't include clothes and he'd really not meant to share with him that Raven had been interrogating him about their recent activities. 

This earned him a wide, toothy grin and a wink. "I'd say that's an interest in your health," he said before covering Charles' mouth with his own, stubble rasping against Charles' own, tongue warm and teasing along his lips, dipping teasingly inside. 

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Charles leaned back in the car seat, taking in as nature changed along the road. And how the road slowly became less and less maintained.

"Sorry about the potholes," Erik said, raising his voice to be heard over the rattling as they hit another hole in the road. "Now you see why I went with the four wheeler, huh?"

Charles grinned. He had to admit it had been a good idea - and he wasn't exactly complaining about the change of clothes that Erik had put on either. Cream trousers and a black _very_ tight t-shirt - along with a pair of aviators that made him look like a model from a magazine. The ginger scruff didn't hurt the overall picture either.

Running his thumb along his lower lip, Charles didn't even hide the grin as he could feel the skin still irritated from their last makeout session.

"Something amusing you?" Erik asked, not taking his eyes off the road as he navigated the worst holes.

"No, not at all," Charles replied, trying to put a lid on the bubbling feeling in the pit of his stomach. He almost wished he could blame it on the driving, but he wasn't that stupid. "So, where exactly _are_ you taking me?" he asked curiously.

Erik slowed down to get around a rather large part of the road missing. "You'll see in a moment," he promised, following the road as it bent in a nearly 90 degree angle.

Charles opened his mouth to answer, but shut it again just as fast as the car came to a halt, the most breathtaking view in front of them. Here half the road had slid down a cliffside but it didn't spoil the view below.

Below them was the still and blue water of a bay, white beaches and green tropical forest as far as the eye could see. Charles stepped out of the car, staring ahead. "Erik, is that-?"

"You can see the old city under the greenery, though barely," Erik agreed, coming out to stand next to Charles, hands in his pockets and an air of smugness that really shouldn't be half as hot as it was.

Here and there a steel beam glinted in the sun, and occasionally the tip of a concrete block could be seen among the green foliage.

"Hammer Bay?" Charles asked, remembering he'd read about it.

"We scavenged it," Erik explained. "Took what we could use, the rest we left for mother nature to bury."

"That's amazing, Erik," Charles said, taking in the whole scenery.

"Well, we can't really go down there," Erik said. "I haven't been here in years and it's a lot more overgrown than the last time."

Charles wondered for a moment how much he could get out of Erik, because Erik had already let slip more than once that he'd been part of the early settlers on the island. "Were you here from the beginning?" he finally asked.

Erik didn't look at him for a moment, then nodded. "Pretty much."

"What was it like?" Charles winced. He was a scientist and that was possibly the vaguest question he could have asked.

Thankfully, it seemed to be enough for Erik to go on. "Barely anything to live on," he said. "We didn't get much onto the island. It was limited by what one teleporter could bring. As more joined us, we gained another teleporter, but it still couldn't cover what we needed as the population grew."

"Did you ever consider giving up?" Charles asked curiously. He couldn't imagine trying to make all the logistics work.

"Every damned day, Charles, every damned day." Erik shook his head. "We never set out to create a country, but once rumor ran rampant we began getting people looking for ways to get here and the population grew explosively." He paused for a moment. "It wasn't an easy time. We all learned a thing or two about limitations to what we could do."

"Yet today Genosha is a flourishing country," Charles replied. "A growing economy and a destination becoming more popular with the tourists."

Erik's laughter rang clear through the air. "Yeah, and that's one thing none of us saw coming."

Charles grinned. "No, I can't imagine you did."

"I wonder…" Erik trailed off and went closer to where the road had been washed down the cliffside. "There used to be a path. We can't get all the way down, but if you're secure enough on your feet-"

"I feel fine, Erik - I'll let you know if it gets too much," Charles interrupted him. He wouldn't mind seeing more.

"There's a set of caves under here that have some pretty impressive stalactites and stalagmites."

"If you think we can get to them from here, I'm game," Charles agreed.

Erik offered him his hand and Charles didn't hesitate before taking it and letting Erik lead him down a barely there trail.

They'd been going down steadily for a few minutes and Charles was sweating like crazy, even though, thankfully, this part was in the shade. Something rumbled in the distance, but Erik didn't look worried so Charles carried on as well.

A moment later, everything went to hell and Charles yelped when small rocks began falling next to them, rolling down their narrow path.

The sound and falling rock brought Charles' mind flashing back to a moment he really didn't want to remember. Panic pooled in the pit of his stomach and as the pebbles became rocks, and the path crumbled under his feet, the scream trying to escape from his lungs seemed to be ripped from him.

Hyperventilating, he barely noticed at first that he was no longer falling. Nor did he realize that there was no longer a path under his feet.

"Breathe, Charles, damn it, I've got you!" Erik's voice was next to his ear and his arms were tight around Charles' body.

Fighting to extract himself from memories flooding his mind and doubling his anxiety, Charles buried his face in Erik's shoulder, digging his fingers into Erik's back, probably leaving finger shaped bruises.

"Bad memories," he managed to get out, completely failing to control his trembling and it irked him, this feeling of helplessness.

"Figured as much," Erik mumbled, the rumble of his voice doing more to steady Charles and ground him than Charles would have guessed. "I'm going to bring us back down to the ground, okay?"

"'kay," Charles replied, barely audible.

All the bad shit from New York kept being there like a transparent layer on top of the situation. The noise of rocks falling had sounded so much like the building crumbling above him, and he'd fully expected to feel the rocks crushing his body again, to the extend where he'd felt the phantom weight and pain for a split second.

Of course it was too much to hope for, that things were okay as they set foot down on the solid ground.

Something went poof somewhere and some kind of webbing suddenly spread itself out over them. Charles startled as it touched his skin, sending a current through his body, making his legs give out under him. The shout of pain escaping him mixed with Erik's and Charles saw the edges of his vision blackening and he was pulled under.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	8. Chapter 8

Erik groaned and tried to reach for his head. However, he couldn't move his hands and he realized that his arms were bound tightly to his body with rope.

Too bad it wasn't chains. Chains always made it so much easier for him. His head was throbbing and there wasn't much light wherever he was. Wherever…

Shit. Charles. "Charles?" _'Charles!'_

Erik rolled as far to the left as he could, his heart in his throat when he bumped against something warm. And thankfully breathing, he realized when he felt the soft exhale against his face.

Taking a deep breath, Erik verified that yes, it was Charles he was lying next to. Even if he couldn't see him. He had to trust that he was okay, unhurt, even if he was still unconscious.

Memories flickered back and Erik's breath stuttered for a moment. Shit. Sentinels. They had been stopped by a damned sentinel! Erik hasn't seen one for years and they should, by all means have been dismantled years ago. And even if it had looked differently, and had been quite a bit smaller, it had the typical design that screamed TRASK manufactured.

He wondered if he'd actually managed to shoot off the mental yell for help in Emma's direction, if she'd 'heard' him and if she'd be able to find him and Charles.

Even if she had, he'd have to start thinking of a way to get them out. Reaching out Erik felt around. Anything. Anything made of metal he could manipulate. Obviously, the floor was stone - and cold too. He really hoped Charles was okay. He held his breath for a moment, listening for Charles' breathing, trying to gauge if it was natural or not.

He couldn't feel much in the way of metal. The door had no metal either, except… his own zipper. Erik closed his eyes and focused. It wouldn't be easy, but… focussing, expanding its capabilities, its properties, changing them at molecular level-

Sweat dripped from his hairline, tickling where its path ran down over his temple, the curve of his cheek and salty teasing along the corner of his mouth. The fibres of the rope fought him from the first strand till the last, but finally, after what felt like an eternity, the rope fell apart. Erik pushed himself up, with half his attention he set the metal fragment to work on the rope around his ankles. At the same time he reached out and felt his hand connecting with the curve of what turned out to be Charles' shoulder.

Scrambling to check for a pulse, just to be on the safe side, Erik touched Charles' neck. And it was there, steady if a bit slow. Guiding the fragment up to work on Charles' ropes, Erik kicked the last of his own restraints away. The fragment was falling to pieces, Erik's manipulation of it having weakened it. However, Erik forced it into service one last time, manipulating the now crumbling fragments into a cluster that were only just big enough to activate the door's locking mechanism.

Erik grabbed Charles, lifting him in a fireman's carry after checking that no, apparently no one was outside. A short hallway ended in a door to something that looked like some kind of loading bay. Erik could hear the water down below. He cursed to himself when he noticed the name Trask Industries on several boxes. Something shifted off to his right and Erik turned, slowly, feeling his stomach doing an unpleasant drop when what looked like two lamps up above turned out to be a rather big pair of eyes.

Something sounded like it was powering up and just as another net was thrown at them, Erik pushed his thoughts at Emma again, as hard and loudly as he could. The net lit up around him and the still unconscious Charles. Really, this was getting old really fast-

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"Really, Erik," Emma said drily, "a few days of vacation for the first time in nearly two decades and you can't even stay out of trouble."

Erik wanted to say something sarcastic in return, but his thoughts were sluggishly fighting him. 

"Easy," Emma put a hand on his shoulder to keep him lying down.

"Charles," he managed to get out. Maybe. Possibly he was just projecting it.

Emma was quiet for a moment, and Erik almost tried to get up again. If she wasn't answering, there had to be something wrong!

"Calm down, Erik," she told him in a low voice. "He's breathing. I can't wake him at the moment, but he's breathing!"

Erik tried to slow his pulse, his breathing.

"We'll get the both of you back to the city and," she began.

"You take him back," Erik interrupted her. His head was already clearing and he didn't seem to have any broken bones.

She sighed deeply and finally let him sit up. Erik looked around and noticed Charles laid out next to him, his chest rising and falling with each breath.

"Told you so," Emma muttered.

Erik glared at her.

A puff of displaced air told Erik that Azazel had joined them. Without taking his eyes off Charles he forced himself to focus on the current situation. They were still somewhere in the same facility that he'd woken up last judging from the walls and the feel of the place.

"Emma. Where are we? How long was I out for? Are there any guards? Where are the sentinels."

"Ah," Emma said. "In the same order?" She continued without waiting for confirmation. "Caves near the old Hammer Bay, converted into a crude production facility. Judging from your mental shout for me, you were out for 3 minutes. All automated, no guards. And I was afraid those were what I thought they were."

3 minutes. Erik stared down at Charles. "What happened to the sentinel that took me out?"

"It took off and headed towards the city." Azazel hunched down next to him.

Erik winced. If the damned thing didn't have time to take care of him and Charles…

"Along with three other sentinels," Azazel added. 

Erik finally looked up, the shock sending adrenaline through his body. "Four of those hell machines?."

Azazel nodded.

Erik met his eyes and held them. "Take Emma and Charles back to the city, make sure he's safe, drop me off midways so I can intercept the bastards. Rally everyone, get the defences up."

"Done," Emma replied, and at that moment she looked like the younger Emma who had faced off against Shaw. More raw, more ready to fight.

Erik allowed himself a mean grin. "I think we know how to run this," he said, feeling reassured.

Emma winked at him. "I'll make sure that your loverboy is safe and I'll act as the inner circle's head of communication."

Erik rolled his eyes. "Let's go." He watched with a feeling of longing as Azazel picked the still unconscious Charles up. However, he had more important things to take care of right this very moment. He had to trust his friends.

Emma put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I knew someone was out to kill you, and used to you as bait."

Erik blinked rapidly a few times. "You what?"

That had come right out of the blue. Although…

"You might have been busy making gooey eyes at your little boy toy," Emma said with a raised eyebrow, "but even you must have noticed-"

Erik sighed deeply. Yeah, there'd been a few instances, including the bug in his hotel room. "We'll have words," he cut her off.

Emma shrugged. "Just make sure you're alive and that's the least we can have," she replied. She gave him a serious look. "Didn't get around to bringing your hooded outfit," she lamented.

Shaking his head, Erik realized that if she had, he'd have refused to wear it. "I think it's time Magneto put his mantle down and Erik Lehnsherr stepped up to bat."

"Mixed metaphors, doofus," Emma said with a wry smile.

Erik stretched out his arm and Azazel wrapped his tail around it, while Emma took hold of his shoulder.

Poof - off they were in a blink of an eye and then Erik was standing on a hillside, staring at four rapidly approaching figures in the skies. Time to get down and get serious.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	9. Chapter 9

When Charles came to, it took him a moment to realize that what he was seeing wasn't the real world, but the astral plane, a place he hadn't used much in years. Back when he'd been injured, he'd spent a lot of time there - sometimes to escape the real world, sometimes to have a place where he could focus and fight his nightmares and memories. In the end it had become a place he'd associated far too easily with pain and the uphill battle of getting back on his feet, both figuratively and in reality.

However, he was pretty damned sure this wasn't his usual mindscape and if it was, something else was influencing it. It felt… tasted wrong to his mind. The last thing he recalled was the electric current running through his body, and Erik's shout in his ear as they had both fallen to the ground.

_Erik._

Charles looked around, but there was no trace of Erik anywhere. Of course not. If this was astral plane, then Erik wouldn't be here. Of course he had to worry about...

The landscape shifted and he was standing in a street that was alarmingly familiar. Tilting his head back, he noticed the sign above the door:

_**Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway** _

That building shouldn't still be standing - at least he was sure it didn't look this way anymore, having been rebuilt after…

The sound of battle and crumbling buildings reached Charles' ears and he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

_This isn't real._

He opened his eyes again, but the building was still there in front of him. He looked at his reflection in the glass entrance door and lost focus for a moment. Regaining it, the image was still that of his 15 year old self staring back at him.

As he had that day, Charles felt the wave of panic from people, running scared, running for their lives - and through their eyes he caught images of the battle razing the streets of New York. Swept away by the memories, he knew he could do no different than he had that day. Reaching out with his mind, he lent his own calm determination to the people he could feel, the people he could see running through the street he was standing in.

The pressure of people against his mind changed to flow like water among rocks. It wasn't painful, but he had to keep a firm hold on himself lest he lose his own footing.

Even as he let his calming influence spread like rings in the water from him, Charles could tell that some people were already injured. Some from being too close to the battle and some from headlessly fleeing, getting trampled or pushed about by everyone trying to escape.

Charles felt the focus of two scared minds off to his right, through an alleyway, across a street and in a corner of a deserted building. It was strange how these two minds called to him, grabbed onto his and before he knew it, he was walking fast, almost running in that direction. All the while he kept weaving calm and focus into people whose minds he touched. Imagining pulling a soft, warm duvet over their instincts, telling them that it would be okay, that they needed to get away, but in an orderly fashion so no one got hurt. Urging them to help each other for a quicker, safer getaway.

His head was throbbing when he entered the run down building. Paint was flaking off the walls and it smelled like animals had been in there.

Closing in on the two minds, Charles rounded a corner and stopped dead. On the ground was an adult man, face down with a pool of blood by his head, a rock next to it. Another piece fell from the ceiling hitting nearly next to the other one as the building shook from an impact.

However, the minds that had drawn him in made him look into the dark corner of the room. "It's okay," he said quietly. "I'm a friend."

Two little girls stared out at him with fear in their eyes. One was a red-head no more than five years old, her pretty floral dress dirty and torn, hair peppered with dust from the falling debris. Her mind, however, was like a beacon to Charles.

Another telepath. He'd have been overjoyed if not for the atrocious timing.

The other girl was blonde and blue-eyed, though for a second her eyes shifted into a golden gleam, her skin taking on a blue hue before shifting back to its rosy color.

Charles was intrigued, but he couldn't leave them there and they didn't have time for any conversations that might sate his curiosity.

"I'm here to help you," Charles said. "I'm Charles."

"Can you help Mr. Logan?" the redhead asked, rubbing tear stained cheeks. "He was hit when he tried to get out. And he won't wake up."

Charles turned his attention to the burly figure on the ground. There was something odd about the man's mind. At first he'd actually thought he was dead, but closer inspection showed him breathing, if shallowly. Charles put his hand on the man's head, the fingers of the other he pressed to his temple. He was already seriously overtaxing himself with the public outside, but he did have to try.

Another piece of the ceiling hit the floor next to his foot and Charles took that as further incentive to focus.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Reaching out towards the behemoths flying towards the city, Erik felt very little metal. Cursing, he tapped into the earth's magnetic field, flinging himself into the air - arrow straight in the wake of the four robotic entities.

Sentinels, Erik thought to himself. Call them what they are. A remnant of the past, a project that had been shut down in the early 00s - or so he'd thought. Because while they looked mightily updated, the four figures were most definitely out of the same mold. Erik had seen his fair share of those things when he'd still fought for Shaw. Had been up against them once or twice, but they'd always had some amount of metal he could control or at least manipulate.

However, these were not the same and if he didn't hurry, they would be tearing his home apart. Erik cast about for anything that might aid him, feeling out larger bodies of metal, rejoicing when he encountered the piles of newly refurbished steel girders at one of the new building projects.

Lifting the girders from afar, he used them to pull himself forward faster as well, keeping the sentinels between them and himself. They kept ignoring him until the first line of girders hit them, and Erik would have cheered if he'd had the extra energy for it when one of the girders collided with a sentinel's shoulder, nearly taking the arm off.

Afterwards he might admit that he'd become a little reckless, boosted by his initial success. What he stupidly hadn't been counting on was the injured sentinel turning on him while the other three continued towards the city.

Twisting the metal girders into an intricate dance, Erik went toe to toe with it. Nearly getting hit by a sweeping arm, however, brought him back to his senses. Time to employ long ago learned fighting strategies - and hope to hell that years in an office hadn't blunted his control.

The sentinel fired its thrusters and reached for him, he barely swung to the side in time and a projectile shot past him. And this was the point where he realized two things. One: the sentinel _was_ carrying something of metal and two: it had to be shielded quite well for him not to have noticed.

Oh, and three: the bloody projectile had a homing device, swinging it about and heading straight back for him.

It might not be a lot of metal, but he was able to guide it just right, nudge it, to calculate the perfect moment. He dropped himself out of the sky like a rock when both sentinel and missile were nearly upon him and Erik shouted with glee as the missile impacted with the sentinel, spraying debris all over the place. However, he nearly hit the ground too hard because of the shockwave the explosion added to his drop.

Setting himself down on the ground for a moment, Erik took a deep breath. One down, three to go. And he had to remember, this one might just have been a lucky guess, because those things had definitely been updated, which meant the next one probably wouldn't be as easy to take down.

Erik winced as he realized he'd been hit with something sharp and a thin trickle of blood ran down the side of his face. Wiping it away, he growled and pulled himself back up into the air, setting a hot persuit.

Knowing that he might have to fight harder for the second sentinel was one thing. It was another actually implementing and keeping it in mind when he caught up with the one forming the back of the trio. And unfortunately they were entering the city air space, which meant the risk of injuring people grew exponentially.

And Erik was wondering what the hell was going on, because with all the powerful mutants of the city, there didn't seem to be anyone taking up the battle and there was no way that they would have managed to get this close without getting noticed.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

There was literally no way into the man's mind and Charles could tell that it was fenced off in a way that had to be a natural part of… the man's mutation? Charles caught himself smiling. Three mutants when he so rarely saw any? Taking this as an omen that he had to succeed, Charles burrowed under the man's natural defences, all but shouting for him to wake up.

Apparently he was successful in his attempt, because a moment later he found himself on his back with the stranger looming over him, growling.

"Mr. Logan! No!" The blonde girl had gotten up and stepped forward, grabbing the man's shoulder and hurling him back, much to Charles' surprise managing to make the man stagger back.

Logan steadied himself and stared down at Charles. The wild look in his eyes seemed to abate, though Charles was pretty sure it wasn't gone completely. The man was a mess, drying blood running down his neck. However, Charles could see the skin mending itself where it had been bleeding a moment earlier.

Fast metabolism or simply a healing factor higher than the norm? Charles shook his head.

"Sorry kid," Logan said, offering him a hand up. "I'm a bit high strung."

"Certainly," Charles said, taking the man's hand and letting him pull him to his feet. "Charles Xavier," he said.

"Logan," he replied. "Brats there are Raven and Jean - I found them lost and was trying to find their parents or at least get them away from the danger."

Charles nodded. Another blast rocked the building. "We should get out of here."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Logan said with a wry grin. He picked both girls up and led the way towards the exit.

Not having to focus on the girls or waking up Logan, Charles went back to spending most of his mental energy on keeping people calm, making sure that they knew how to get out the quickest. Thankfully everyone seemed to be getting further and further away from the battle and Charles shortened his reach a little.

"Is that you in my head?" Raven asked from her perch on Logan's arm.

Charles met her eyes and nodded. "I'm trying to keep everyone's panic to a bare minimum," he told her. "So no one gets hurt and everyone gets away from the danger."

Logan turned his head a little. "That's a pretty impressive reach, Chuck."

Charles winced. No one called him that except from Cain, and that was a can of worms Charles hoped he wouldn't have to open again ever.

"I'll be glad to let go when they're at a safe distance," Charles muttered, sharing a small smile with Raven and Jean, who were both watching him over Logan's shoulders.

The whole world tilted for a moment, as the floor bucked under his feet, throwing him off balance. Concrete and steel flew through the air, and the last thing Charles remembered was the crushing pain as he fell forward, the heavy weight against the back of his legs and lower back pinning him down and grinding him into the hard, jagged floor.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

The second sentinel dropped out of the formation and hovered, facing him. Erik pulled the steel girders he'd dragged behind him in his wake into play again - but where he'd had a lucky hit right off the bat before, this time the thing evaded every piece he lobbed at it. He could hear people screaming from below in the city, but he couldn't take the time to check on their safety. He had people for that and he had to trust that they'd do what they were paid for.

The damned thing lifted its hand and something shot out at Erik. It looked suspiciously like a flare and and Erik swerved to avoid it, throwing three steel girders at it while doing so. This was almost too easy, wasn't it? Of course this would be the moment when he also realized that the sentinel had deployed its own diversion.

While his attention had been on the flare for a moment, another projectile shot from the sentinel's hand, a webbing of some kind that looked to be alive. And when it unfolded and pulled tight around Erik, he realized that his cocky attitude might be his end because what had looked like alive for a split second turned out to mean it had an electric current rolling through it. The bastards were really very fond of those.

"Fuck!" Erik's muscles pulled tight and he lost any control he had, over the steel girders, over his flight and and for a moment he might have blacked out.

Thankfully he hadn't been too high and when he hit the ground it was the city's main park, the grassy field barely cushioning his fall.

The fall knocked him out for a moment and by the time he was back on his feet, the sentinel was slowly descending a little way from him, kicking up a lot of dust with its rocket booted feet.

Groaning, Erik tried to get to his feet, his ankle not quite supporting his weight and his ribs sending shocks of pain through his system. Sprained ankle, Erik thought to himself. Broken if he wasn't lucky. And there were definitely some bruised if not bent ribs as well. He had to hope they weren't broken, because it didn't look like the damned sentinel was going to give him a moment to breathe. At least the web that had been cast over him seemed to have been a one discharge thing, because the current was no longer running through him. Of course he still felt his muscles twitch in its aftermath.

The sentinel raised its arm and something in the palm of its hand pulsed, energy obviously building.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Charles opened his eyes, feeling dizzy. He stared ahead of him at his own reflection. 15 years old. He slowly raised his gaze and stared unseeingly at the name above the door for a moment, then his focus cleared.

**_Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway_ **

_But how…?_

Why was he here again? He'd ended up in the hospital, his lawyers keeping his secrets and Charles Xavier had disappeared and so had most of his inheritance. Making sure that the Markos had only gotten the house in Westchester and whatever was in it. Most of the money had simply vanished and reappeared without trace in the accounts of one Charles Pembroke.

So why was he back in front of the law firm again? He'd just been in crushing pain and now he was back in front of their entrance.

The world shifted again. Fear-pain-terror

The whole thing started over again.

_**We can skip to the fun part, if you'd like.** _

The world around him froze and Charles whipped around, trying to see who had spoken.

_**Glad to.** _

Blurry outlines became the hallway, became the broad back belonging to Logan and again the world tilted, pain following as surely as before.

_No!_

_**Yes!**_ Laughter filled the void around him and he was back again, walking behind Logan. The roof collapsed and he was caught, painfully so under the rubble.

Again.

Again.

And again…

It took… Charles lost count of how many times this happened. It all felt like seconds and eternal torture. Reliving that damned moment, over and over again, not a second to catch his breath, to focus to-

_ENOUGH_

Everything ground to a halt. The scene only just reforming again froze, then fell to pieces around him until nothing but whiteness upon whiteness surrounded him. The echo of pain still resounded inside him, but he could push it down and away with some effort.

_My mind, my place, my rules._

The world tilted again and instead of the vast whiteness up, down, left and right, black squares bled into the whiteness under his astral feet.

_**A chessboard? How apt.** _

Charles closed his eyes and stopped holding back. Like a flower his reach unfolded and he reached for his opponent, hiding in the shadows, in the folds of the astral plane.

 _Come on out, Illusionist,_ Charles called.

 _ **The big man sure knows how to pick them,**_ the Illusionist answered.

Charles frowned.

_**And you don't even know who he is, do you? Some telepath wunderkind you are.** _

Charles lashed out, feeling his attack hit home. _I happen to value privacy, especially that of other people._

 _ **Keep telling yourself that,**_ the Illusionist shot back, pain evident in his voice, but his attack was as fierce as Charles' had been. Still, Charles sidestepped it, moving on his own devised board, letting the black fields absorb the energy aimed at him.

_**Fancy fighting, little one, still won't change the fact that I'll end you and you'll never know who your precious new friend is. Nor will you know how we found you.** _

For a moment Charles hesitated. If they'd been looking for him-

 _ **Who do you think sent you the warning in the first place?**_ The Illusionist asked smugly.. _**My… associate wanted you here when Stryker told me about you. You'd think by how he spoke of your powers, you'd be able to hold your own against me - guess that just goes to show how rusty you've become.**_

Refusing to let the taunts get to him, Charles gathered the energy the Illusionist had thrown at him. Visualising it, re-channeled through one single white square on his board, he drew it up and in - before throwing it all back at his opponent. Black and white squares scattered in a rush of energy, and Charles felt the instant diminishing of the Illusionist's mind - like a candle being blown out.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Erik reacted on pure instinct, reaching out for the huge chains that were used for fences in the park. Old, gorgeous anchor chains that had been fused into long, sweeping waves running through the whole park.

And old anchor chains were obviously made to last, because when Erik touched them and made them dance around the sentinel, he could feel their strength and forcing the pain into the back of his head, he curled the chains around the sentinel, tightening them, using some of it to pull the sentinel's charging weapon down towards the ground. At the same moment that it discharged, Erik pulled at the chain, angling its arm in toward itself, slightly upward so that the blinding pulse of energy took off the thing's own head.

Erik watched with grim satisfaction as the smoking, now headless, sentinel sank to the ground.

"Two down, two to go," Erik muttered, glad that his powers allowed him to lift himself up towards the sky. Way to motivate himself. Erik refused to wonder how Charles was doing, he still had a city to help and he had to trust Emma.

Nevermind that he really wanted to go find Charles and just curl up to lick his wounds.

The sound of battle reached his ears and Erik steeled himself, twirling the huge chain and trailing it behind him as he went in search of the other two sentinels.

As he came up on the first one, he realized he wasn't the only one fighting after all. He watched in awe as Logan threw himself out from a rooftop, impacting with the sentinel in midair, claws going in through its armour, shredding it as if it were made of rice paper.

"Logan!"

"Take the other one, this one's mine," Logan howled back.

Erik shook his head, he hadn't ever seen Logan fight like this, and he had to trust that the man could handle the sentinel. Where the two Erik had taken out obviously had adapted to his powers and his way of fighting, Logan would hopefully prove a difficult opponent. There was a huge difference in how he and Logan tackled problems, that was for sure.

With a nod, Erik turned his back on him and continued towards the last sentinel. It rose before him and Erik steeled himself, spreading his arms and ignoring the burning in his ribs as he directed the chains forward, like great huge snakes dancing around the sentinel, like a director would conduct music.

For a split second he faltered as he felt something weave through his mind, like a wave of the ocean rolling over his feet. Shaking his head, he threw his weapon at the sentinel, hoping this one wouldn't have adapted too much to his fighting techniques or powers.

Of course Erik was out of luck on that one, the sentinel catching the chains and sending a current through them. It interfered with the magnetic field that Erik had generated to control them, causing the chains to fall towards the ground - leaving Erik without his greatest weapon.

"Fuck." Erik breathed shallowly, bracing for meeting the bastard head on.

 _'I'm sorry, Charles,'_ Erik thought to himself. He was probably going to have trouble getting out of this one alive. It didn't help that he was beginning to feel like passing out might be an option at some point soon.

Suddenly fire erupted from below him and he watched in awe as Sunfire rose in front of him, engulfing the sentinel in her fire. Following her he spotted Jean and Sunspot and for a second he considered yelling orders at them, then decided that his people were perfectly capable of handling this without him, especially the ones who were part of the city's and the island's defensive forces.

 _'Emma?'_

_'My office, doll,'_ she replied. _'your boyfriend's awake - he took out Wyngarde.'_

Erik shook his head. Wyngarde. One of Shaw's old cronies and Erik could kick himself for not keeping a better eye on him.

 _'Land on the nearest rooftop, you old idiot'_ Emma told him. _'Azazel's coming for you.'_

Erik slumped down onto a rooftop, watching his best and brightest taking down the last sentinel.

_'Logan?'_

_'is getting reinforcements as well,'_ she assured him. 

_'Charles?'_

_'Is recuperating, now get back here, you're hurt.'_

Erik rolled his eyes but he didn't argue. The ribs were hurting like hell and now that he was on solid ground again, the ankle was throbbing like crazy. 

Azazel popped into being right next to him. "You're a mess," he told Erik. 

"Didn't see you out there," Erik said, not half as defensively as he'd aimed for. 

Azazel snorted. "I went to aid Logan for a little while, but with Wyngarde's control broken, the rest of our citizens rallied quickly - so Emma sent me for you." 

Erik nodded. "Glad to hear," he replied. "And yes, let's get back to Emma." 

"And Charles," Azazel said, voice teasing as he reached for Erik and helped him find his footing before teleporting them back to Emma's office. "And possibly a doctor." 

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

With a sharp yank the world returned and Charles sat up with a gasp.

"Emma, he's awake."

"I can see that - it's okay, sugar, take it easy."

Charles blinked and tried to focus on the owners of the two voices.

"Where am I?" he asked, digging his fingers into what turned out to be a leather couch. His torment was still fresh in his mind, though he had trouble focusing on what the Illusionist had said. Damn, but the man had loved hearing himself talk.

"In the middle of a battle we're losing," the man said.

Charles turned his head and did a doubletake. While he was used to his sister's blue skin, seeing a man who looked like the devil incarnate was a little out of the usual. Tail, red skin…

"Go see what you can do, Azazel. Erik needs all the help he can get." A tall, blonde woman stepped forward, putting a hand on Charles' forehead.

"I still don't get why there are so few helping him," the man, Azazel said. With a nod to Charles, he turned to black smoke and disappeared.

"I think you and I know exactly why," the woman said, giving Charles a penetrating look.

"I wasn't the only one he was trapping in fear, was I?" Charles realized just what the Illusionist might have done.

"I don't know who was doing it, but someone was causing more trouble than could be called normal," she said. "I'm Emma," she said, holding out a hand. "We have a friend in common."

Charles reached for her hand, surprised that it wasn't shaking. "Charles." He narrowed his eyes, he could feel… "You're the telepath friend that Erik mentioned." Amazing how his extra sense was blending perfectly in with the rest now that he was allowing it to.

She smiled without mirth. "I am. Who were you fighting in there?"

"Who is Erik?" Charles wanted an answer.

She smirked. "Your opponent, young man."

Charles rolled his eyes. "He thought of himself as the Illusionist."

She swore and Charles actually felt his ears heat.

"Wyngarde, the bastard," she growled. "We'll need to find him."

"He's out cold," Charles said. "I… I'm not actually sure I didn't kill him."

Raising an eyebrow at him, she sat down next to him, letting out a deep breath. "You haven't actually guessed who Erik is, have you?" she asked curiously.

Charles shook his head.

"There aren't that many people who can manipulate metal," she said softly.

Charles made a face. "I don't really keep up with the world - could have been that more had surfaced." He really wasn't fooling anyone. As much as he'd _not_ thought about it, there were precious few people who could manipulate metal and magnetic fields. Of course he'd only really seen Erik do it with smaller objects, so maybe he was excused for not wanting to think about it. For all he knew, Erik could just have been a telekinetic.

Maybe. Maybe not. Adding it to all the knowledge Erik had displayed, Charles probably should have guessed.

She shook her head. "Well, if you stopped Wyngarde, we can hope people will start taking defensive measures and Erik's won't be caught out there with only a handful of people who are capable of blocking a telepathic attack. Erik, at least, I taught well."

Charles nodded. He rose to unsteady feet to look out the window and staggered a few steps back. "What the hell are those?" he asked breathlessly. Two huge robots were smashing buildings and causing mayhem.

"He took down two," Emma told him. "I've been trying to calm people, but I've only managed a small handful so far. At least with Jason out of the game, it will be a little easier."

"At least in that I think I can help," Charles said, and although his head was pounding, he knew what to do. He'd done it in New York, he could do it again. Even if his fight with the Illusionist had taken quite a lot out of him. Using his gift again was like flexing a neglected muscle and enjoying the burn. 

Taking a deep breath, he reached out, tracing the fear and despair, giving everyone what sense of calm he could. He kept a constant eye on the giant things and tried to keep his focus as he saw a familiar figure rising up in front of one of them, metal beams smashing into the monstrosity as he watched.

Feeling nauseous, Charles finally let everyone go, allowing an echo of his own control and calm to roll like rings in the water. Outward.

Emma caught him as his knees buckled and helped him back onto the couch.

"You…" she said, eyes wide with wonder.

Charles was far too tired to ask any in depth questions. Still, his alarm bells were ringing. Loudly.

"No, don't… " Emma shook her head. "We are going to have to talk when this is over, Charles - and as much as you didn't know about Erik, I can tell you, you're going to be a hell of a surprise for him as well. And not in a bad way, hon."

Charles slid down on the couch. "I'm really nothing special." There was no way he was risking her ever learning his real name, not after what Erik had told him about their-

"I wouldn't say that," Emma said with a quirky smile. "In case you haven't noticed, Erik doesn't form friendships with just anyone and not within such short time. You got under his skin in a way I don't think I've ever seen anyone else do."

Charles lowered his head, feeling strangely embarrassed. "I'm sure he's not that bad."

Emma laughed out loud. "Oh, but he is, probably even worse, the recalcitrant bastard. He's never been one to go for a lasting relationship, or been able to fit it in with his duties as Magneto - you on the other hand, I think for you he'd make the exception."

Charles closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back on the couch. "He still has duties." Charles knew he was already far too fond of Erik, and Erik did have another personality to keep up, it seemed.

Emma shook her head. "First of all, he needs to slow down and and let our democracy do its own work and second; he's out there without anything to cover his face - I can't blur everyone's memories of his face - and I don't think he wants to anymore."

"Is that what you used to do?" Charles suddenly realized that if Erik had had relationships in the past, and still managed to keep his dual identity a secret...

"You're a smart cookie," Emma said with a soft sigh. "For a very long time we thought it best to have an icon of power - and…"

"It just never changed?" Charles finished the sentence for her. To be caught in your own web of secrets. Yes, he could relate to some extent. At least he didn't have to balance it on such a large scale.

Emma shrugged.

Charles closed his eyes. He kept seeing this shadow out the corner of his eye, but every time he tried to focus on it, it disappeared.

"Is something wrong?" Emma asked.

Charles rubbed his forehead. "No, I… I don't think so. I'm probably just tired from the kerfluffle with the Illusionist."

"I'm terribly impressed," Emma said, stepping over to the window the look outside. "Taking on Wyngarde like that was no mean feat. And it was hardly a kerfuffle, my dear Charles. Do not belittle your own battle."

"Thank you," Charles said 'I think' he added silently. The shadow grew a little, but once again as he turned to it, it was gone. "Is Erik…?"

Emma closed her eyes a moment, then nodded. "They've taken down the sentinels," she said with a sigh. "Now comes taking care of the injured and the cleaning up. Not to mention figuring out what the hell four sentinels were doing on Genosha in the first place without anyone finding out."

"Wyngarde…" Charles began, then faltered, feeling a little nauseous. "Wyngarde hinted at an American named William Stryker being involved," he stopped then shook his head, only managing to make it worse. "Stryker's been obsessed with my involvement in what happened in New York back… well, you know. He's never known the name I live under, but he knew that a telepath was involved. Touched a lot of minds. There was little time for subtlety."

"Much like you did here today," Emma said with a nod.

"Much in the same way, yes," Charles agreed. "I know from my sister that someone's been asking questions lately, and she warned me and told me to go here. If Stryker is involved in more than simply chasing after me, a ghost, but ...he might have been working on something even bigger."

"It's worth investigating," Emma agreed. "Get some rest, you don't look well."

Charles put a hand over his mouth, trying to reply, but instead of clear speech, his tongue seemed tied and his field of vision was quickly narrowing. He spotted Erik appearing in the middle of the room, out of thin air, their eyes meeting for a fleeting second before it all fell away and Charles was dragged under, kicking and screaming.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---


	10. Chapter 10

The air cleared and the familiar feel of vertigo that always accompanied traveling with Azazel with it. Erik staggered for a moment, looking across the room, right at Charles as the other man seemed to lose conscience.

Nearly falling forward, Erik dropped down on the couch, drawing Charles into his arms, wincing when his ribs protested.

"Erik…"

Erik cradled Charles in his lap. He'd torn the sentinels to pieces, aided by the others but maybe he'd lost… "I didn't want you to take his memories in the end," he muttered.

"Erik you idiot - even if I wanted to, he's far too powerful compared to me," Emma shouted at him. "And-" She stopped dead. Her face was paler than normal, eyes wide with dread. "Right now he's fighting a losing battle!"

Erik raised his head and blinked up at her. "What do you mean?" He shook his head. "I thought you contacted me earlier to tell me that he took out Wyngarde."

Emma sighed. "Yes, he did stop Jason," she said, "but it looks like this might stick a lot deeper than that, a lot deeper than Wyngarde's treason. I thought he was okay right up until a moment ago - his opponent is a lot stronger than we are, my friend."

"What are you saying, Emma? Out with it!"

"I just tried to get inside his head, but he wouldn't let me and there's something _else_ in there."

"Take me inside," Erik suddenly said. He had no idea how all this worked, his own powers so different from theirs, but he knew, without a doubt, that he had to help Charles if he could.

"Erik, I…" She stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Has he ever been inside your head?"

Erik nodded.

"More importantly, have you been inside his?" she asked.

Erik closed his eyes.

"Erik?" 

"Last time we had sex, I talked him into doing what you mentioned was so great about telepathic sex." He really hadn't intended to share that with her, or anyone else for that matter. The moment had been so… intimate.

"Oh, Erik, you might just have given us a way in," Emma breathed, color returning somewhat to her face.

"What do you mean?" Erik held Charles tighter, only reassured by the rising of his chest as he breathed.

"His mind won't allow mine inside, but if we get you in there, there's a possibility he'll recognize you and we can pull him out."

"Do it," Erik said, holding Charles a little closer. "Emma, I…"

"Don't tell me just yet, sugar," Emma said with a smirk, "I know - hold onto your hat, Erik - we're going in."

Without any further warning, Erik felt his mind falling away from his body. For a moment it was the familiarity of Emma's well-ordered, cool and calculating mind and the next it was… well, nothing like he'd ever expected to find in Charles' mind.

Of course what he'd seen of Charles' mind back then had been coloured by pleasure - his own as well as Charles' and as Charles had said, their connection hadn't been all that deep. It hadn't been necessary and he hadn't wanted Erik to feel like having his mind invaded.

Now this mindscape… Erik felt fear and worry grip him. It was all dark and swirling with something that felt like liquid menace, like the shadow at the corner of your eye, like the monster under your bed or in your closet when you were a child…

 _I can't move beyond this point, Erik,_ Emma told him, her voice seemed to be almost muffled. _He's up ahead somewhere, you have to get to him and help him. He's fighting a losing battle and I get the feeling, if he loses, we all lose._

Erik tried to move forward, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

 _I'd hate to sound sentimental and like a trite romance novel,_ Emma told him drily. _You have to focus on him, on how you feel about him, all your reasons for wanting to get to him - and why he should let you._

Erik would have gritted his teeth if he'd been corporeal. As it were he did as Emma had told him, even if a little voice kept telling him that it was ridiculous. That how could…. No, this was for Charles and possibly, if Emma was right, all of them, he had to try. 

The swirling shadows danced around him, ever closer and ever more menacing. There was nothing of the light and joy he'd felt the last time he'd been in Charles' mind. _Charles, where the hell are you?_

Something shimmered up ahead, if it was indeed ahead. Erik felt like he was turned upside down every time the shadows rolled around him and up down, left right were concepts that couldn't be applied easily - to say at all.

_Erik? No, you're not supposed to be here. He must be conjuring you up to weaken me._

Erik frowned. _Who he? Wyngarde is out cold - you stopped him._

For what felt like a small eternity, there was no answer, then Charles' voice returned, though faint it was. _Not Wyngarde - he was merely a puppet. We're up against so much more. Erik? Are you real?_

Pain tore at Erik's heart at how lost Charles sounded at that very moment. He tried to move faster but without any points of direction he had no idea if he was indeed moving forward with speed or simply treading in place.

Then, as he was about to give up, the swirling darkness parted and he stepped into a sphere of… well, there wasn't light as such, but it was less dark than before.. Difficult to explain to anyone not actually there. And there in the center of it was an intricate web of energy, shifting and moving as if something was right under its surface. At its center, he spotted Charles' body, spread out in a mock-crucifixion position. The back half of his body was buried in the shifting wall of darkness, while his front was still visible to Erik. The look on his face was torment and despair, and Erik wanted nothing more than to pull him down and protect him from ...well, whatever it was causing this.

 _Erik… you shouldn't have come…_ Charles' eyes were completely white, no pupils, no trace of the blue color Erik had so quickly come to recognize and appreciate. _...but part of me is glad you're here anyway._

_Charles--_

_No, listen to me. This is important._ Charles tilted his head and stared unseeingly at Erik. _He must not free himself - and make no mistake, I can only hold him at bay for so long._

Erik wanted to argue, wanted to offer something…

 _Listen to him, Erik,_ Emma's voice drifted to him through the darkness around them.

 _Miss Frost is right, Erik, you must listen. Without Wyngarde, the Shadow King searches for another way through - another puppet,_ Charles said, urgency growing in his voice. _At the moment he is focused on me solely, but should he succeed, should he take me and make me his mindless drone, then there is nothing to stop him from gaining a foothold in our reality. First Genosha, then the rest of the world._

Erik stilled. No. Charles wasn't saying… _What do you suggest we do to stop him?_ he asked carefully.

_Kill me, leave my mind, leave me to hold him back for now, then… when you've returned to your own mind, end my life, swiftly. He must not be given an opportunity to flee. Your friend, Miss Frost, will know how to kill me without that happening._

_No,_ Erik argued, _you can't expect me to simply stand by as you are killed - even for the greater good!_ The thought filled him with more despair than he'd ever considered he'd feel about the end of someone else's life.

 _Erik, I'm right, please listen to me,_ Charles said, voice soft and imploring. _I am right, there is no other way to stop him._

Grasping at straws, mind racing with empty, impossible solutions, Erik shook his head. _For how long?_ he finally asked, feeling around for that one argument that would change Charles' mind.

_He must be stopped, Erik._

_Until he finds another puppet, huh? For how long will your sacrifice stop him?_ Erik pushed, drawing on all his anger, all that screamed in him that it wasn't fair.

_Long enough for you to build up defences against him - for you to gather enough strong people to stop him._

_Fight him!_ Erik urged. _Let me help you fight him - There must be a way for us to do so now, that won't mean killing you!_

Charles' silence spoke volumes.

 _You're more powerful than you've let on, I know this,_ Erik tried.

 _It's taking all that I have to hold him back,_ Charles argued.

 _I know you must be tired, after stopping Wyngarde and now this,_ Erik continued over him. _But in here, you must be able to tap into me as well - you're the one who said that I had a more ordered mind and more self control than you'd ever encountered before._

Charles didn't reply.

 _Use it!_ Erik still received no answer. _Damn it, Charles, use_ me _, you bastard. I didn't just find you to lose you a few days later._ The last slipped out before he could stop himself.

_You don't know what you're asking, Erik. Neither of us would be the same, even if we make it out of here alive._

Erik shook his head. _I don't care, Charles. Genosha will live on without me, it doesn't need me anymore. And while I love our little island state…_

 _You're a romantic fool, has anyone ever told you that?_ Charles sighed.

 _I think Emma's tried a couple of times,_ Erik replied with a smirk. _Though you're the first one in decades that I've actually wanted to get romantic with._

 _Lovely,_ Charles said drily, but there was a light to his eyes that hadn't been there before. With an effort, he pulled his arm out of the shifting web and held out a hand, offering it to Erik.

Without a second thought, Erik took it and let himself be reeled in, sinking into Charles instead of against him, remembering that this was what Emma called the astral plane, a different place of existence where nothing was corporeal, but where he'd feel everything as deeply - if not deeper - than he would if he were in the real world.

_Erik..._

Everything was detached, everything was clad in cotton and boxed in frosted glass.

_Erik..._

Nothing was him. He was drowning and everything... everything was...

_Erik!_

Everything was... _Charles!_

Realization brought clarity - brought... not necessarily a clarification of his and Charles' personality or a division, but... 

_Don't try to define it, Erik. We are us, you and me and..._

_So much more_ Erik breathed. _Charles..._

 _I know..._ the glee in his mental voice was like- Charles toned it down with a laugh. _If we get out of here alive, we might want to try this deep when we have sex._

 _I might not survive that,_ Erik thought, realizing that he had no walls between him and Charles and every thought and reaction would be laid bare. He would have thought this should intimidate him, scare him, but it didn't. If anything, he felt elated, felt like he was home for the first time in a long while - if not ever.

The emotional reaction hit him with a wave of joy.

 _We have a battle to fight,_ Charles said, mental voice warm and gentle, though infused with a sense of urgency.

As if summoned by his words, the world around them rippled. _Charles!_

_He'll tear us apart to get to the real world, Erik._

A wave of fear and pain rolled through them, tearing at their borders, ripping at their hearts and souls - minds blazing with darkness and mayhem. They would have been splintered if not for the combination of their selves. Bending like a willow in the wind but not breaking.

_**Such futile waste of resources.** ___

__The voice was... not really a voice, but more of a chilled hand down the spine, times a hundred, combined with icy needles pricking the skin._ _

___**Do you truly think you can stop me? That your flimsy 'powers' - even combined - will have any effect on me?** _ _ _

___We will do whatever we have to do stop you,_ they answered, the rawness of their powers roiling like a sea at unrest. _You shall not reach our world through us, nor through anyone else. We shall put an end to you once and for all.__ _

__The laughter caused the darkness around them to fluctuate, shake and ripple._ _

___Erik_ _ _

___Charles_ _ _

__For a moment they too fluctuated and strings between them were torn and twisted, melted and burned. Each connection opened and painful like exposed nerves. Fingers like claws shredding through them, ripping emotions of love out and replacing them with fear and unfulfilled longings, of death and loss._ _

___NO!_ _ _

__At first tentative tendrils of warmth, heat, trickled through their united mind, flowing in the wake of the darkness that had attacked them. Soothing torn emotions and connections, knitting them back together, painstakingly slow, but surely._ _

___Friendship, love, trust and loyalty,_ each of them a token of protection, a layer of a shield - a layer of strength for their weapon, like a sword smith folding metal till it was thin but durable beyond understanding. One moment all was enveloped in darkness, one moment despair was all that was there. Then a tiny seed of light sparked in the center of the darkness, exploding into pure light._ _

___We... I... I can't see you die, Erik, I'm sorry..._ _ _

__The light tore through them and Erik all of the sudden felt his conscience being torn from Charles'. The light suddenly blinding instead of warming, and their connection - not so much torn as stretched impossibly thin._ _

____

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

"Erik! Wake up you damned idiot!"

Erik took a deep breath then coughed as his lungs apparently weren't quite up to the task.

"Charles!" Erik opened his eyes and tried to sit up. He was stopped by Emma holding him down. This was getting old really fast.

"Don't even think about it, Erik," she told him sternly. Her icy facade crumbled a little and she swallowed hard. "I want to say that he's okay, but I can't make promises - he's still inside his head somewhere, won't let me in, his walls are impenetrable." She turned her head to nod at the still body in the bed next to his.

"Then do as we did before, use me to get in there," Erik demanded. Charles looked dead and if not for the equipment next to him with his vitals, Erik might have thought he was. He also recognized the white noise generator that stood next to the bed. It was a fancier model than the one Emma normally used to help her focus and ignore thoughts around her. He wondered why Charles wasn't in an isolated room of his own. Not that Erik was going to complain, he wasn't sure he would be letting Charles out of sight any time soon.

"I can't Erik - this is different. It's... like the lights are on but nobody's home? I mean, he's not dead, he's not completely gone. He's just... There's nowhere to get in unlike before."

"So what do we do?"

"We wait."

"No, hell no, Emma!" Erik argued. He couldn't just leave Charles in there, on his own.

"Erik, there's fuck all you can do," Emma swore at him.

"Get me to him...." Erik stopped for a moment and turned his head, taking in where he actually was. "Hospital?" 

"You've both been out for the past 28 hours," Emma said, tiredness showing on her face; the drawn lines around her eyes and at the corners of her mouth. It gave away just how little rest she'd probably had in those past 28 hours.

For a moment Erik wanted to press the issue, then he let her push him down and he took another deep breath, managing this time without coughing up a lung. His ribs were also making themselves known and his ankle felt… numb. "Right, duty before… fuck, Emma. What's the situation?" If he focused on the actual tasks on hand, maybe he wouldn't worry quite so much.

Fat chance.

She raised an eyebrow at him but nodded as she moved her hand and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I know you're worried about your friend, Erik, but all you can do now is give him time to rest - what he did out there was pretty impressive but he did overload himself."

"He pushed me out," Erik admitted with a sigh, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"But not until you'd given him the edge that was needed, Erik," Emma said with a sigh. "I can't pretend to understand half of what happened inside his head, but at one point you… you stopped being there. As did he. There was just this enormous entity that I think might have been the both of you."

Erik opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. He remembered everything that had happened, recalled the feeling of being so closely tied to Charles. And how achingly empty it had been to no longer feel it. And how relieved as well, because it had been scary to be that close with anyone.

This was the point where he started feeling something like ...a tickling feeling in the back of his mind. Shaking his head, he realized that he must still be tired.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

Two days later and Charles still hadn't come to, and while both Emma and the doctors told him that Charles simply needed rest, Erik was getting antsy. Okay, well beyond antsy. He'd spent most of his waking hours sitting by Charles' side, one hand on the tablet to communicate with the office and the other resting on Charles' hand. Occasionally straying to touch the pulse point of Charles' wrist.

Just in case the machines were lying.

His own injuries were pretty much healed as a few of the hospital's staff could accelerate healing. As it were, he was down to walking with a limp and breathing a little shallowly. Unfortunately healing the mind was a different matter. He was lost for a little while, just staring at Charles' slack face, the slightly parted lips.

 _'I'd like to see those eyes of yours soon,'_ he pushed at Charles, though if he thought he felt a hint of warmth in reply, he was probably just fooling himself.

 _'There's still a lot of Genosha I want to show you,'_ he continued. _'You have to get better soon, wake up, damn it. The nurses are going to throw me out at some point - even if I am Magneto._

He read through another report. Then he was back to staring at Charles. _'I don't think they care who I am, Charles.'_ He could have sworn he felt a touch of amusement, but Charles was still out cold.

Erik's monologuing at Charles was cut short when he heard voices in the hallway. And before he could do anything, the door was pushed open and a young woman stepped through, obviously a mutant as her skin was scaly and blue, a strong contrast to her stark red hair and white business suit.

She stopped dead two steps into the room, zeroing in on Erik. 

Before he could say anything, Emma ducked into the room behind her.

"As I told you, Raven, your brother is still out - but he's recuperating."

"How can you be sure?" Raven turned to Emma.

Erik took a deep breath. So this was Charles' sister. He hadn't given it much thought, but of course she'd get to Genosha eventually and he felt oddly off kilter for facing her without Charles being there. It was like meeting the in-la… Erik stopped his thoughts in their tracks. For all he knew he and Charles would be parting ways in the near future. It wasn't as if they had talked about what would happen after their vacation affair.

"I came to Genosha to meet Charles and a chance to maybe talk to Magneto; to discuss mutant issues, not to find my brother unconscious with a guy I've never met, holding his hand." She glared at Erik and her yellow eyes flashed.

Erik wanted to speak up, but he caught Emma shaking her head at him from behind Raven.

Emma grinned and put a hand on Raven's shoulder. "I know, you said as much in our correspondence," she said evenly.

Erik raised an eyebrow. Correspondence? Now there were apparently things that Emma didn't share with him. He pouted at her. She wasn't supposed to have secrets from him. He was rewarded with a roll of her eyes as she, like most other days, failed to be intimidated by him.

"If you can stop glaring daggers at him for a moment, I can introduce you to Magneto, if you want," Emma said shrewdly.

Erik made a face and realized that he'd completely failed to move his hand from Charles'. He couldn't quite help the small smile forming on his face.

Raven's eyes widened. "Don't think this will keep me from reading you the list of things I'll do to you if you hurt my brother," she told him, but there was a slight flush to her cheeks, so Erik figured for now at least, he was safe.

"I wouldn't expect it any other way," Erik agreed. He'd known Charles for such a short time and he felt protective about him - no wonder his sister seemed to react this way.

"He's a good guy, he's a bit paranoid and overprotective at times," Raven said, narrowing her eyes. "But if I find that you have hurt, coerced, forced or god forbid, broken his heart," she reeled off.

"Damn it, you're loud, Raven - please shut up? You're making my headache worse."

They all turned their heads and stared down at Charles, who was blinking tiredly, staring at them with bloodshot eyes.

"If you hadn't gotten yourself involved in this mess, I wouldn't have to yell at you, now would I?" Raven asked, her voice rising a little more.

"You're the one who wanted me to take a vacation on Genosha and then thought it was a good place to hide from Stryker," Charles argued. His voice was gaining in strength and volume as well.

"Do blame me, why don't you, Charles?" Raven put her fists on her hips, glaring at her brother.

Erik shared a look of incredulity with Emma. Apparently the siblings were on a roll.

"Don't be a jerk, Raven," Charles growled, fighting to sit up in the bed.

"I'm not being a jerk!"

"Yes, you are!"

Erik tried to say something to stop them, but both were completely ignoring him and Emma.

"It's not like I did this just to annoy you, Raven," Charles hissed. "You know better than anyone that I've always been careful to keep mum."

Raven huffed theatrically. "Yes, your secret identity worked out so very well, didn't it?."

"Secret..." Erik began, a little surprised. Charles hadn't mentioned…

"Please, not now," Charles interrupted. He turned his head to look at Erik, lost track for a moment when he looked down and realized that Erik was still holding his hand. Then he seemed to catch up, glaring at Erik. "And don't think I have forgotten that you started arguing with me instead of carrying out my plan."

Erik huffed, stood up and decided enough was enough. He reached out, put his hand on Charles' cheek and pressed his lips almost bruisingly against Charles'. Finally pulling back, he could tell that he'd taken Charles completely by surprise.

Good.

"Don't get started, Charles," Erik warned. "You suggested I kill you in order to stop the Shadow King. I liked my plan better."

"You did what?!" Raven's voice went up an octave.

Erik caught Emma hiding a laugh and glared at her. "I'm not going to let you pull such stupid stunts again," Erik growled. "You kicked me out."

"To save you!" Charles looked upset and Erik glared at him.

"Don't make me shut you up again," he warned.

"If that's how you intend to do it, that's not really a threat so much as a promise and an incentive for me to carry-"

Erik shut him up again.

"Christ, are they going to carry on like this?" Raven asked, annoyance thick in her voice.

"Probably," Emma said drily. "Erik's smitten and I'm pretty sure your dear brother is no better off."

"Typical," Raven said under her breath. "I'm the one who wanted to meet the great Magneto and I just realized I know way too much about his _sex_ life thanks to my brother's inability to _not_ share." Huffing out a breath, she stepped up and sat on the edge of Charles' bed. "Stryker's been taken in for questioning in Washington. Apparently he had been supplying Trask industries with information - hoping to get some back that might lead him to you, but that was about as much he was involved in all this."

"Trask has been taken in as well," Emma said. "Wyngarde was apparently the mastermind behind the hidden factory on the other side of the island. They needed as much information as possible about mutants to build up the software for the sentinels. Which he supplied them with"

Erik nodded. "They were definitely built to match me - not much metal and what was, was shielded somehow. And with Wyngarde taking everyone out, at least for a while, they appeared to have an easy mission. And I guess they served as a diversion to let the Shadow King in through the back door, so to speak."

"Wyngarde would have won - he wanted to sow discord between us and the humans," Emma said. "If we hadn't known of his involvement, we'd have struck back at humans for placing sentinels on Genosha. And with the chaos, the Shadow King would have easily gotten what he wanted," she continued, stepping up the the foot of the bed, leaning on it. "If not for your help, Charles. Thank you. I feel like we should have thanked you for New York as well."

Charles flushed red. "It was a long time ago."

"Like the other day, you kept the injuries and deaths to a minimum by staying calm," Emma argued. "So for both instances, thank you."

Charles shrugged, obviously not sure what to say.

Erik had the urge to ask him 'what now?' Could he ask Charles about staying? Or would that sound… needy? Was it too soon?

Raven reached out and touched Charles' face with a soft expression. "Are you going to stop running, dear brother?"

Charles made a face at her. "I don't know, Raven," he admitted. "It'll definitely depend on how the US government handles this and what they're going to do with Stryker. I don't' want to spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder - I've been doing that enough already."

"Stay," Erik said, before he could stop himself, then as three pairs of eyes fell on him - and obviously the hand he was still holding. "Genosha could use someone who would take an interest in her educational system."

Emma made a face and rolled her eyes. Erik ignored her.

Charles held up the hand that Erik had been clinging to. There was a strange warmth at the back of Erik's mind and Erik figured it was Charles bleeding over.

"You don't have to answer now," Erik said, wanting to make sure that Charles knew there was no pressure. And maybe not make it seem like Erik was a little desperate for him to say yes.

The door to the room opened and one of the nurses - the one who always glared at Erik and obviously didn't care one bit who he was, stepped in. "We need to run a few tests, please leave the room - we'll let you know when we're done," she told them.

Erik wanted to argue, but he also wanted to make sure Charles was alright.

"I suggest we get a cup of coffee," Emma said. "Come on, loverboy," she called to Erik. "Leave your friend to the care he needs."

Erik shared a look with Charles and not for the first time that day, he wanted to hear Charles' voice in his mind.

In the hallway they walked in silence for a few moments, Erik suddenly realizing that people were giving him looks, staring.

"One," Emma said, "your boyfriend overdid it and while he still has his abilities, it's like an overstretched muscle - best left to get better on its own." She gave Raven a smile and Charles' sister nodded. "Two," Emma continued, "you can't expect people to not stare when everyone now knows what Magneto looks like. It's been on people's minds since the dawn of Genosha."

Erik shook his head. "I know you wanted me to carry on," he began.

"No, Erik," Emma cut in. "I did want you to eventually have a life not all in the name of Genosha. You've served our country for years, and you do need to dig Erik Lehnsherr out from under Magneto at some point."

"So," Raven said, breaking the moment of silence Emma's words had left in their wake. "My brother lives like a monk for years, then manages to bag Magneto. I'm impressed."

Erik felt his face heat. "He's a good man."

"That he is," Raven agreed. "Don’t forget it or I'll be happy to remind you."

Emma put her arm through Raven's and grinned at Erik. "The protective sister role suits you."

"We've only ever had each other," Raven said quietly as they walked into the cafeteria.

She waited with Emma while Erik got them hot drinks. He put them down on their table and sat down as well.

"I was nine when we met," Raven told them. "I think you can guess what day it was, in New York. Charles found a young girl named Jean and I, who were trying to get to safety. We were with Logan, whom I know you know."

Erik stared at her. "Jean-"

"Is our Jean, I believe," Emma said with a small laugh. "It does seem to be a small world."

Raven laughed. "Charles came upon us when Logan was out cold, he got inside his head and woke him up - and Logan took us to safety…" she trailed off, her smile dimming. "The building fell--"

Erik put a hand on hers and shook his head. "I've seen the scars."

Raven quirked an eyebrow at him and smirked. "I bet you have."

Erik rolled his eyes. He was fast becoming used to Charles' sister special brand of humor it seemed. He ignored the peal of laughter the comment startled out of Emma. It was a good sound. One he hadn't heard in a long time.

Emma shook her head. "I've got a couple of calls to make," she told them, draining her coffee. "I'll be right back."

Erik nodded at her. He probably should get back to work too. He was pretty sure that Emma had slept as little as he had since the attack.

 _'Don't worry, Sugar,'_ Emma teased him. _'I can handle things for a while.'_ Again something flickered in the back of Erik's mind, but before he could ask, Emma's voice was gone.

"I wonder if Charles will actually stop hiding now," Raven said quietly as they watched Emma walk away.

"Hiding?" Erik took a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee. He hadn't forgotten Raven's earlier comment about a secret identity.

"Since the New York incident, Stryker's been trying to find the telepath involved, and with him, hopefully, out of the picture, maybe Charles can stop."

"You mentioned a secret identity?" Erik asked curiously. He felt like, in Raven, he'd been offered a fantastic well of information on Charles. And if it was something she was willing to share, it couldn't be all that bad. She cared about Charles and wouldn't let him get hurt. 

Raven shot him a stern look before launching into an explanation. "Stryker had narrowed his possible targets down by using the registration that was done back then on mutants, finding possible telepaths in the registry. I guess Charles didn't tell you. After New York, to hide not just from prying eyes who could access the information and put two and two together, Charles took on another name to hide from his step-family. His stepfather tried to get all the money and the house - in the end Charles cheated him out of the money - he didn't care about the house. It's just a huge behemoth - but getting most of the Xavier fortune was a pretty damned good step considering how they'd treated him."

"Xavier… fortune." Erik could do nothing more than stare at her. That name - and the fact that Charles' chosen field of study was genetics-

Raven apparently missed that Erik put the emphasis on Xavier and not fortune. "Your new boyfriend's loaded my friend," she carried on.

"Xavier…"

"Yeah," Raven said.

"Excuse me for a moment," Erik said, "I have to go yell at your brother."

Raven raised an eyebrow, obviously judging how serious he was. "Remember what I said," she warned him. 

"I will," Erik agreed. "Yelling won't hurt him."

She snorted and waved him off. "I'll wait for Emma to come back, then we'll join you."

Erik marched back to the room, caught up in his confusion, awe and fuming with indignation.

He passed the nurse, who shot him a venomous glare, but he only had eyes for Charles, who in turn looked surprised to see him so soon.

"You bastard, I _told_ you about the texts that we'd used for inspiration when creating our constitution and you didn't say anything!" Erik stood stock still in the middle of the room, fists at his sides. He wasn't entirely sure how to tackle this now that he _was_ confronting Charles with it.

Charles groaned and hid his face in his hands. "I was so young when I wrote those-"

"Just…" Erik spread his arms. "Do you have any other secrets, I should know about?" he asked. "Are you immortal as well?"

"Erik, come here," Charles said, holding out his hand and looking hopeful at Erik.

Erik stepped forward, but he kept gesticulating. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

Charles bit his lower lip, grabbed one of Erik's hands and pulled him closer. "Would you hold it against me if I said no? I didn't mean for you to find out this way, it feels a bit awkward. And it's not like you can talk, _Magneto_."

Erik shut his eyes. "You'll make me go prematurely grey," he said. "Or completely white, if I let you, won't you? First you don't tell me who you are, or that you were involved in New York. Then you take on the Shadow King refusing to let me help. You kicked me out of our connection, and don't you ever dare do that again!"

"That might be just the problem," Charles said, face flushed with embarrassment and worry. "I might have linked us - I don't think it's permanent, but-" he hurried on.

He looked so worried and heartbroken that Erik had to stop for a moment, reaching up to touch Charles's face.

"Maybe someone can help break it," Charles corrected miserably. "Maybe your friend Emma-"

Erik glared at him. "Don't even think about it! I'll hunt you down and make you pay for it if you do," he warned. "If it's permanent, we'll deal with it, but for now, you just focus on getting well."

Charles' eyes widened in surprise. And this time Erik was sure he was catching _something_ through the connection Charles had just admitted to forming.

"Is that a promise?" Charles asked, squeezing Erik's hand, pulling it close to his chest.

"Yes, and don't think this gets you out of trouble, _Xavier_." Erik tried hard to glare at him, but he got the distinct impression that he was coming off more mushy than intimidating.

Charles put a hand on Erik's cheek and pulled him in, slowly, as if he wasn't entirely sure of his welcome.

Erik, on the other hand, put a hand on either side of Charles' face and crushed their mouths together in a bruising kiss.

_'Erik!'_

Not letting up, Erik pushed the elation he was feeling at hearing Charles' voice in his mind, even scolding him. The way Charles melted against him assured him that it was the right thing to do. Erik pushed forward, putting one knee up onto the edge of the bed, while he felt, more than saw, Charles running a hand up from his knee to his hip.

When Erik stopped pushing, Charles grabbed his shirt and tugged him forward, until he was lying halfway on top of Charles, the heat of him warming Erik to the bone. He couldn't quite help the gasp when Charles slid his hands down his sides and grabbed his ass.

Breaking the kiss, but staying close enough to feel Charles' breath on his wet lips, Erik drew in a deep breath before licking at the corner of his mouth. "Feisty," he muttered.

Charles' face colored and he closed his eyes, but obviously couldn't fight the smile forming on those red lips. "Must be your fault," he mumbled. "I swear, I've never felt this-"

"Frisky," Erik finished, laughing when Charles rolled his eyes at him. "I like you this way."

"I like me this way too," Charles said. "I like the way I am around you… but above all I like you."

"Do you now?" Erik said, knowing he must be sporting the most stupid grin and not caring one bit about it.

A snigger from the doorway made Erik groan.

"Don't stop on our account," Emma said.

They turned their heads and Erik wasn't all that surprised to find both Emma and Raven smirking at them.

 _'We'll never live this down,'_ Charles sighed in his mind.

 _'Who cares?'_ Erik replied, covering Charles' mouth with his own again, ignoring the two intruders to focus solely on Charles. They'd get tired of being ignored at some point.

_'I like your plan.'_

_'I thought you might,'_ Erik replied, grinning into the kiss.

\---♦♦♦---♦♦♦---

The final 'chapter' is more of an appendix of Genoshan history - a very short introduction - revised of course 


	11. Chapter 11

_Appendix_

(Text from the revised edition of "Genosha - a very short introduction")

**Genosha's history - from refuge to flourishing tourism and a rising economy.**

No one would have pegged a small island off Africa's coast as the next big thing on the international scene of politics and economy.

Yet this is exactly what happened when a small band of people on the run took refuge on the island of Genosha. This was the island north of the Seychelles that had been abandoned in the 70s, after riots and a declining economy made its people flee and leave a ruined city behind for mother nature to eradicate.

The island was never found to have any interesting natural resources and as most people found its ruined city of Hammer Bay more than a little spooky, the only people who ever really used the island were local pirates who hid in the island's bays and inlays.

However, in 2004, a year after the devastating fight in New York where the terrorist group Hellfire suddenly turned on their leader, Sebastian Shaw, aka the Black King, the first reports of where the group had gone to surface, all evidence pointing to the ruined Genosha.

In early 2005, the world's demands that the group stand trial were finally met with an answer. The former White Queen of Hellfire, Emma Frost stood in front of the cameras, at her side the enigmatic Magneto, whose true identity was unknown to the world. They both addressed the demands, and for the first time the world was given a small insight in what had happened in New York two years prior.

Neither the UN, NATO or any of the world's nations bought into the speeches at first. When asked what they wanted, the two representatives voiced their demands. 'Freedom for mutants, no matter where they were in the world - ending persecution and registration, incarceration and violence on the sole ground of the people being born differently from the norm.'

Of course such demands had been put forth before, quite often hamfisted as groups like Hellfire would make their demands and when these were not met instantly, would cause mayhem and destruction.

But where this situation differed from the previous, was how it was received by the world. All of the sudden, mutants from around the world had a point to steer by, to head towards. Some seeked refuge on Genosha for simple reasons. A lifetime of being seen as different, they yearned for a place to call their own, where they could live the kind of life that they had always dreamed of.

And of course others thought it would offer a quick rise to power, a pool of available people for a mutant army.

As the world watched and worried, the latter did not happen. According to rumors, Magneto was said to strike down those who thought this and treated the influx of refugees as easy targets for conversion.

_Outtake from press release January 2006 (released by the people of Genosha, signed by Magneto)_

_'We will not accept that anyone will attempt to prey on the refugees, nor will we allow any nation on Earth to attack Genosha to wipe out what they see as a threat. Any such sign of bad judgment or violent behaviour shall be stopped at the borders of Genosha. We want the world to leave us be, to let us at least live among ourselves to allow us to make life more livable for those of our people who have suffered at the hands of the world.'_

For another two years, it seemed that everything was balanced evenly. No nation attacked Genosha, and Genosha stayed where it was. However, as the world wanted to know what was going on, demands for UN representatives to inspect the island were turned down. This in turn, backed by especially the US, instigated world wide embargos. Nothing made it out from Genosha, nothing made it into Genosha.

At least in theory. It was said that the island state had a few mutants with the ability to teleport themselves and in some cases objects over vast distances. It is thought that for Genosha to have survived, it must have made use of these individuals. The island itself was found to be rich enough in the soil for agriculture to flourish, but plants and seeds for such could not have legally made it inside Genosha's borders.

When confronted, Magneto had scoffed at the world and told them he wasn't about to let his people starve to death, just because the world had its collective heads up its collective asses (verbatim quote from videoed speech, which can be found on many pro-mutant Youtube channels).

A time of change came about in late 2008 when it seemed that Genosha had changed its way of thinking. A report released from Genosha of 500 pages listed what short and long term plans the island's population was working on. Among these plans were forming a government and opening negotiations with the outside world to end the trade embargos.

It seemed the world scoffed at this, because few nations were interested even if most governments desperately wanted to know what was going on on Genosha.

Part of the release was the island state's draft of their constitution. To the surprise of most of the outside world, this draft addressed several points that other countries had so far failed to amend to their own constitutions.

Among other points, it was emphasizing that mutants and humans were not different enough to split into two races, that although Genosha was founded by mutants, it would not differ between the rights of mutant or human citizens.

This is meant to be connected to a less known paper released in a magazine the year before that postulated the theory that the differences between humans and mutants were less than what the world knew and that mutants were just as likely to bear a human child as a human couple were to bear a mutated child.

As it were, Genosha refused to disappear off the face of the earth and in the span of 2006-2008, the most magnificent sight shot up on the satellite photos. A city had started growing out of the greens of Genosha, and when the first inspectors from the UN were let onto the island in 2008, a sight unlike any before met them. The initial report had no photos, but within a short time photos were added to this as well.

Towering spires of organic rock, glass and metal met the visitors and the description flattered the architects of Genosha, not to mention the citizens who had lend their powers to the process of creation.

The island was kept under observation, but although the main leaders, Miss Emma Frost and the ever enigmatic Magneto did what they could, the world was not easily swayed.

In the spring of 2010, after years of struggling against the embargos of most of the world, Genosha had its first break in the wall, as Atlantis under the rule of Namor broke the embargo, citing that it had gone on for long enough and that Genosha had showed to be more than willing to share information and let international inspectors make landfall.

This caused an uproar from the US more than any other country, possibly due to the nature of the claims the US had made from the beginning. That the terrorists of the previous Hellfire surrendered themselves.

However, even the United States were careful to not dent their relations with Atlantis by taking any physical actions against them. Warnings were issued and as most people know, ignored by Namor.

In 2011, on June 15th, a private boat was taken hostage by Somali pirates. The waters along the coast of Africa south of Genosha were still teeming with pirate activity, though the part just off Genosha's coast was considered one of the least likely areas of the region to be in risk of being boarded by pirates.

The reports do not all correspond, but the general consensus was that the pirate ship, upon boarding the sailing boat and in an attempt to escape the NATO deployed ships in the area, sailed into Genoshan waters, failing to leave when they were told to.

As Genoshan defences were sent out - and in not inconsiderable numbers when one considers the island's inhabitants are in some cases stronger than any man made weapon, the pirates decided to ignore the threats and stayed in Genoshan waters.

The skirmish is said to have been over very quickly, a mere hour, as Genosha's forces shut the ship down and incapacitated the pirates, liberating the family of four who had been on the boarded vessel.

The world watched and many guessed that this would be the last of the family anyone would see, but as it turned out, in the family's own words, 'they were treated well and with respect, fed and given medical aid where needed.'

The closest NATO vessel that had been on the chase, the Esbern Snare, negotiated to be allowed to anchor up in Genosha's only harbor, and was, after intense talks, granted this.

Interviews and explanations went on for two days, in which, according to reports from both the rescued family and the crew of the NATO ship, they were treated with respect and were made to feel welcome on the island.

As it later turned out, the British family who had been taken by the pirates were distant family of the British Minister of Defense, and it is widely regarded as the point where Genosha's luck turned.

Within the year, the UK suspended their trade embargo with Genosha, opening up for trade as well as a liberal customs agreement. Some saw the following few years as a charm offensive from Genosha, as a sudden influx of tourists hit the island and the general investments from private companies made it possible for the island to meet the demands of these tourists.

The appeal for tourists who were looking for a different kind of vacation was the island's lovely nature, the few natural predators and the uniqueness of the capitol itself.

In early 2012 a deposit of platinum were found in the depth of the island and all of the sudden, Genosha was wealthier than before, capable of investing and trading on levels unlike before.

In 2012 the island also saw its first election, which was won by Emma Frost. Two years later another election saw Miss Ororo Monroe rise to become prime minister. The elections that were scheduled in 2016 were slated to be the year for Jason Wyngarde, though after his attempts on Magneto's life and his later coma after the attack on Haven decimated any chances he might have had.

After the reveal of Magneto's real name, Erik Lehnsherr, already having decided to drop out of politics, stayed on for another year as consultant for the government, seeing it through a successful election, not to mention his own marriage to the new head of Genosha's newly inaugurated State University of Genosha.

According to him, the days where Magneto is needed as an icon have passed.

If asked, Genosha's public would beg to differ, as his popularity is nearly as great as it was right after Genosha's conception.

Emma Frost, once again running for prime minister in the elections of 2016, told the public that she had every intention of having Erik Lehnsherr still involved in politics - if by no other means, she knows he will covet the newly created seat of minister of education, currently unfilled.


End file.
